Home Workout - Weight Free, Fast, Easy and Extremely Effective!

Over the past month or so, I've had various requests from people for a bodyweight workout. That is, completely cardio, no weights and high intensity. Basically, if you're too self conscious to join the gym, or don't like the atmospheres of gyms, or for most people its just that they don't have time to go to the gym with busy lifestyles. I decided to take some former knowledge and structures and use them to create a home workout. All you need for this particular routine is anywhere between 10-30 minutes of your time depending on how many times you'd like to repeat the circuit (Personally I'd aim to repeat it 2-3 times) and a decent (but not too large) amount of space. I do a similar, higher intensity workout to this in boxing and from personal experience I can tell you that it shreds fat and rips and cuts your muscles in ways that you wouldn't believe, but you've got to stick at it! With regard to the amount of times to do this workout a week, I'd recommend 3-5 times, maybe do it in the morning before you have to go to work, school, university etc. It would definitely be an amazing way to energise and kick start your day. This workout is suitable for anyone, its an entry level workout and its easily made more intense; and the best part about that is, the limits to which you can go with regard to intensity are endless. This workout will work all of your body, but it is especially good for core. If you've got that annoying body fat around your midsection that just won't seem to shift, this will definitely do the trick! Oh, you'll also need some form of stopwatch (phone, ipod, computer etc.) Anyway, enough introductions and lets get down to the workout.

30 Seconds Running on the spot
20 Seconds High knees
20 Seconds Heel Flicks (Flicking your heels towards your glutes, almost a running motion)
10 Seconds sprinting on the spot
30 seconds high knees
10 seconds running
15 seconds sprinting on spot

10 Tuck Jumps (Jump into the air, tucking your legs up beneath you)
10 Star Jumps

10 Seconds Running on the spot

10 Squat Thrusts (Begin in a press up position, thrust your knees towards your chest before returning to the start position)
10 Press Ups
10 Crunches

20 Seconds High knees
20 seconds heel flicks

10 Squats
10 Dorsal Raises (Lie on your front, place your hands by your head and proceed to raise your chest from the floor before returning to start position)
10 Burpees (Same premise as a squat thrust, but after thrusting your knees forward, change into a standing position, then back to the start position)

20 Seconds Running on the spot
30 seconds high knees
10 seconds sprint
20 seconds high knees
15 seconds sprint

Okay so there's your circuit. Anyone interested in a higher intensity version of that, just get in touch with me (details below) Realistically, one run through of the circuit should take you 10-15 minutes depending on how fast you're willing to go. Obviously its better to perform these exercises fast to keep the intensity high and therefore maximise the calories burned and fat lost. Also, if you own a skipping rope, I'd recommend that you did some skipping to warm up for the circuit. Try doing 2 minute rounds with 30 seconds rest in between. The best idea would be to do around 3-5 rounds of this (Skipping is great for your core, so if you haven't got a skipping rope/don't know how to skip - now is the time to buy one and learn!

Hope this proves useful for people and that some give it a go because it really is a fantastic workout, and its even better when modified to a higher intensity. So if you'd like to give me any feedback on this post, whether its requesting the more intense version of this workout or even just some general comments and suggestions; everything is welcome! You can find me on Twitter - @Wrighty__ Facebook - www.facebook.com/wrightyx or alternatively just leave a comment under this post. I look forward to any feedback that people may have. So until next time,
Keep Testing The Limits,
Alex.

Building Muscle and Shedding Fat

When looking to make a change in their body, most people opt for either shedding fat, or building muscle. It's definitely possible to do both, but it involves a lot of patience and careful planning. The main thing to remember is to maintain a solid balance between your cardio and weight sessions. In addition to this you have to remember to eat right (this doesn't matter as much if you have a relatively low body fat content. To do something as extreme as this definitely requires a huge lifestyle change, but if you're truly passionate about reaching your goals then you'll be willing to change your approach for the best results. Some may disagree that its impossible to shed fat without losing muscle; while this may be true in some cases, in my own case I've found that its possible to maintain your muscle and gain some whilst shedding your fat. I've decided that instead of outlining vague principles for people to interpret themselves - I'm just going to outline the plan that I'm sticking to at the moment with some nutritional advice and hopefully some of you may trust me enough to give it a try, especially if you're looking for goals similar to mine. The whole idea behind this plan is to gain lean muscle rather than just bulk and then have to go through the 'cutting' stage and also if you've got a higher fat content - it cuts fat off like no other plan that I've tried. 

The whole premise for my muscle gain plan came from a workout split that I found from Terry Crews' Expendables workout; however only the split itself has been lifted from there. The exercises themselves have been chosen by myself. I also use what he refers to as 'The 24s' to warm up rather than cardio. This is purely because I now separate my cardio and weight training completely, allowing my body to focus on one goal at a time. With regards to my cardio, mine usually comes in the form of high intensity cardio through boxing on two evenings a week, and two hours of hockey - therefore I make sure to get my weight training done early in the day, and perform my cardio in the evenings. Anyway, enough of the introductions - lets get down to the plan itself!

24's Warmup - Perform this warm up before every session. Treat these exercises as a circuit, perform 6 reps on each exercise before moving on to the next. Maximum of one minute between circuits - perform all with a straight bar (begin with a low weight if you have to, make sure you're getting the correct form. You can find this warm up on Youtube in Terry Crews' Expendables workout. 

Upright Row

Clean and Press

Romanian Deadlift

Jump Squats

Monday - Shoulders

Alternating Dumbbell Front and Lateral Raises - 3 sets, 12 reps (Where 1 rep is considered the combination of both the Lateral and front raise)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 3 sets, rep to failure

Dumbbell Shrugs - 3 sets, 15-20 reps

Bent Over Low-Pulley Side Lateral - 3 Sets, Failure

Rear Delt Flyes - 3 Sets, Failure

Barbell Upright Row (EZ Curl Bar) - 3 Sets, Failure

Evening Cardio - Boxing

Tuesday - Back and Arms

Barbell Row - 4 Sets, Failure

Lat Pulldown - 4 Sets, Failure

Hammer Strength Row - 3 sets, 12 reps

Wide Grip Pull Ups - 3 Sets, 10 Reps

Incline Prone Row on Bench (Dumbbells) - 3 Sets, 12 reps

Bicep Curls - 3 Drop sets, Failure

Tricep Pushdowns - 3 Drop Sets, Failure

Hammer Curls - 2 Sets, 12 Reps

Evening Cardio - Hockey

Wednesday - Strictly Cardio Day (Boxing)

Thursday - Chest and Arms

Bench Press (Normal Grip) - 3 Sets, Failure

Wide Grip Bench Press - 1 Set, Failure

Incline Bench Press - 1 Set, Failure

Decline Bench Press - 1 Set, Failure

Chest Flyes Machine - 3 Sets, 12 reps

Press Ups - 2 Sets - 20 reps

Close Hand Press Ups - 2 sets, 15 reps

Tricep Extensions (Machine) - 3 Sets, 12 reps

Bicep Curls - 3 Drop sets, failure

Tricep Pushdowns - 3 Drop sets, failure

Friday - Legs

Squats with Barbell - 4 sets to failure, increasing weight with each set

Bent Legged Deadlifts - 4 Sets to failure

Calf Raise Machine - 3 sets to failure

Leg Press - 3 Sets, failure

Leg extension machine - 2 sets, failure

Leg curl machine - 2 sets, failure

Hack Squat (Machine) - 2 sets to failure, increase weight each set

Okay, so that's the breakdown of my workout split so far. I get almost all of my core training from the 24's warmup, big compound exercises and mostly boxing. I also like to throw in some core work at the end of a workout, possibly through a Plank, incline situps, roll outs etc. Feel free to add those in at your own discretion. With regard to nutrition; I still intermittently fast once a week, whilst keeping my calories low on another day. The other days of the week I basically try to keep my calories well within 1750 and try to keep my fat levels as low as possible. I now mostly eat a lot of veg (broccoli, carrots, onion etc.), Different types of fruit, Cous Cous as my main carbohydrate, chicken as my main source of protein, eggs, and of course a protein shake after every heavy session. I try not to live by a strict eating plan, I just try to monitor the things that I eat, and so far it has seemed to pay off. Basically the best advice that I can give anyone is just to get smart about the foods that you're eating, work out what the healthier foods are; and eat the things that you prefer from that list. Also, make sure that you're keeping your water intake high every day. 

Well I hope that this information has been useful to someone and I welcome any feedback whatsoever that people have to give. It would also help if people do decide to try this plan if they let me know and compare notes with myself as its a plan that I'll be sticking to for a few more weeks. If you want to get in touch with me you can either leave a comment under this post, find me on Twitter - @Wrighty__ or even find me on Facebook - www.facebook.com/Wrightyx. Please don't hesitate to get back to me with any feedback, even if its about another post or just the blog in general, I love hearing from people about this blog! Until next time, 

Keep Testing The Limits

Alex.

False Advertising and 'Wonder' Products

I'm going to kick this post off by again apologising for the lack of activity in the blog; the reason for this is that I've been training so much lately that between that and my uni work, I haven't really had time to get any material out. However now I'm more used to my schedule I'll try and keep the posts coming regularly and hopefully continue to be of some use to people. Anyway lets get on with this post, I've seen a lot of things flying around the internet lately about diet and weight loss secrets; wonder products and the list goes on. 

An advert that I see way too much is some bullshit transformation secrets with before and after pictures. They promise to share their secrets with you if you pay them - what good Samaritans they are. Personally I find it an insult to people like myself that work damn hard to meet their targets and achieve their goals that some website can just appear and promise some instant results with just a few little secrets which are most probably either unrealistic, ineffective, or the same information that you can get anywhere else for free. If you were to come to me and ask me directly about the secrets to transforming your body I'd tell you the same motto that I've stuck to since starting to train myself seriously. The only 'secrets' to getting your body into the shape that you want are blood, sweat and tears, in other words - hard work. 

Take a look at all of the top athletes, and even just the people that you may see in your gym - they all got to where they are because they worked hard to learn the ins and outs of fitness and exercise, and worked even harder to put that information into practice. Anyone that puts everything they've got into achieving their goals is a person that you should respect. Don't mess around with the scams and the cons. The harsh reality is that if you're willing to pay a source that you know nothing about in return for weight loss just shows that you're lazy. You haven't got the right mentality and mindset to really achieve the goals that you want. Now although you may lack that mentality, its not impossible to achieve. The moment that you commit yourself fully to your dreams, is the moment that your success is guaranteed. Once you've got that down then its only a matter of time until you're hitting targets and edging closer to your final goal.

 If you think about it, the only base secret to achieving the body you want is that you're the only one standing in your way. I'm by no means saying that you have to hit the gym constantly to achieve these goals; a lot of people that I know hate going to the gym; they get their exercise in ways that they enjoy. Find something that you enjoy doing and you'll stick to it - whether its competitive sport, training in the gym with a friend, or even just going running from time to time; every bit of effort that you put in brings you a step closer to your goals. So please, don't fall for the ads - they just want your money and they're not going to tell you anything that you don't already know; all the information that you want to find will be available for free somewhere. I myself am more than happy to help anyone out as long as they're serious about what they want to achieve. Sources such as Fitness Made Ez (Links to his pages can be found at the bottom of this post) and The Hodgetwins/TwinMuscleWorkout provide some amazing free information, and there's countless other places to find good, trustworthy info. However, if you're going to start anywhere; I'd strongly suggest starting with those guys. 

The other thing that I wanted to talk about are the 'wonder' products that are being spewed onto the internet left, right and centre. Supposed diet pills and products designed to help you gain ridiculous amounts of muscle in a short space of time. There's not much to say on the muscle building side of things, apart from the fact that to gain an unbelievable amount of muscle in just a few weeks; you'd have to take steroids. I understand that professional bodybuilders take steroids for competition's sake - anyone else is going to sign their own death warrant through steroid abuse; because believe it or not they will kill you eventually, and sadly it will be slow and painful. The real problem that I have however, are with the diet and weight loss pills. The answer to losing weight healthily and keeping it off is being dedicated to your exercise regime and really being smart about what you eat. A popular scam these days is that of the Acai berry tablets - there is no way in hell that a berry can make you lose weight automatically with no effort (unless its poisonous and makes you lose weight through illness). Relying on a product to do the hard work that you should be doing yourself is pointless because you'll be disappointed when no results are shown. Things like 'Adios' and SlimFast are widely advertised and sold; yet people are under many illusions as to their purpose and how to use them. For example, Adios themselves stated that the pills ' Combined with a calorie-controlled diet and exercise' will show results. To me this just begs the question - what the hell is the point in taking these tablets if you have to change your lifestyle completely anyway? Chances are that your lifestyle change will show the results and the supplement will take all the credit for it. That's how you generate the ill informed positive feedback and results.

Don't assume that there aren't products that can help you out there. I myself currently take Warrior Blaze; and with a decent diet and routine, it definitely helps. I know this because I've tried training with and without it - although I saw results when not taking it, the best results came when I coupled it with my training and used it as it was really supposed to be used. Take it from me - Warrior are a trustworthy, cost effective and generally pleasant company to do business with and I'd highly recommend them. Other products that work are products such as Grenades, but I found that they had way too many side effects, including nausea and sickness. If you want to buy supplements from Warrior, you can tweet them for more information at @WarriorSupps . Or just search Warrior Supplements in Google, they're sold at every decent supplement site including my personal favourite - www.bodybuildingwarehouse.com.

Well I hope that you've found this information useful, if you've got any feedback then you can tweet me @Wrighty__ or find me on Facebook - www.facebook.com/wrightyx or just leave a comment on here. Also, as promised, you can find Fitness Made EZ on Twitter - @FitnessMadeEZ , Facebook - www.facebook.com/FitnessMadeEZ , www.flexdem.com, and even on Youtube - www.youtube.co.uk/glyphmedia. My best advice to you at this point is don't be pulled in by scams and cons, do your research, find what works for you, and put it into action. Until next time, 
Keep Testing the Limits
Alex.