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Tag: HIIT training

Choose Your Identity

March 24, 2021
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| Health and Wellness, Uncategorized

Decisions, decisions. Everyday there are numerous important choices that we must make. Such as, what am I going to have for breakfast? Should I wear a button down or a polo? Should I wear deodorant or go au natural? Just kidding, I wear deodorant and just kidding, those are not important choices. One really important choice however, is am I going to take care of myself and be healthy, fit and feel great or am I going to let myself deteriorate, get out of shape, sick and fat?

Choose your identity?

Having trained hundreds of clients for over 25 years, one of the most important common denominators of my most successful clients comes down to this one simple question. Who am I?

The most successful clients choose working out, eating healthier and exercising as a lifestyle. This lifestyle is part of who they are. It is as important to them as brushing their teeth and applying deodorant! Not sure what my fascination with deodorant is today but let us continue, shall we?

People that are not successful being in shape, healthy, lean still have not decided. From time to time they may decide to join a gym, start an exercise program or a new diet. The problem with this approach is that they have not chosen to make that a part of who they are. They have one foot in and one foot out.  Sure, they decided to act which is great, and I applaud them for that first step. Unfortunately, once things get hard or life gets in the way they go right back to square one. Why? Because they did not take on the new identity of who they wanted to become. A fitter, healthier, better version of themselves.

There are many reasons we humans do this. Most of the time it is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear of change etc. A great piece of advice I heard from Jaimie Foxx on  a Tim Ferris Podcast is “What’s on the other side of fear?” the answer is “nothing.” And he’s absolutely right. There is nothing on the other side of fear.

Many of us worry about what might happen, about the worst case scenarios and what can go wrong but rarely do they ever happen that way. And even if they do, it would still be a really good experience, a life lesson for you to learn and grow from.

What are your goals? Take a moment and write them down in detail. Then ask yourself is this who I want to become. If the answer is yes, then you must make this part of your being. It must be who you are. If you want to be fit, look, and feel your best then you must do the actions necessary to be that way. It must be a priority. No negotiations. Plan your meals, shop for your food, prep your meals, schedule your training sessions, take your supplements. Show up each day. I am not going to lie. It will be hard in the beginning. The trick is to stick with it. Day in and day out and in no time at all it will become a habit. A beautiful healthy habit. Just like brushing your teeth and putting deodorant on.

To your health.

Kevin

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Old School Water Jug Workouts

March 14, 2021
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| Uncategorized

Some of my favorite workouts are the most basic and true to life. Big basic movements using everyday heavy objects doing everyday things. This was the inspiration for this post and I hope it inspires you. 

My family has some property upstate in the Catskill Mountains. We use the house year-round but over the winter we have to shut off the water and drain all the pipes, so they don’t freeze and break. This means that when we go up to the house during the winter months, we must bring large jugs of water to wash up, flush the toilet, brush our teeth, etc. Although carrying 4+ 7-gallon containers of water 2 at a time back and forth or 40 yards down the driveway through snow sometimes can be rough, it is also a killer workout. The primal part of me loves this and hopefully, you will too.

 

For this workout you will need two 5- or 7-gallon water jugs, I like the Reliance brand Aquatainers. They are sturdy and have comfortable handles. You can also get the Jerry can version which is a little narrower making it a bit easier to deadlift and carry them. This also makes it a bit more difficult to do push-ups on the handles. A third option if you are looking for something lighter and a bit smaller you can get the 4-gallon containers. These work better for shorter and/or smaller frame individuals. 

The 7-gallon containers weigh 2 pounds each empty. Full they are 60 pounds apiece. The cool thing is that you can adjust the weight by adjusting how much you fill them. Another added benefit is that when they are not full the water movers around a lot more. This makes lifting and carrying them more challenging and can provide a different and perhaps harder stimulus to your muscles.

Below is the weight of water in relation to gallons.

1 gallon of water weighs 8.33 lbs.

2 gallons of water weigh 16.66 lbs.

3 gallons of water weigh 24.99 lbs.

4 gallons of water weigh 33.32 lbs.

5 gallons of water weigh 41.64 lbs.

6 gallons of water weigh 49.97 lbs.

7 gallons of water weigh 58.3 lbs.

Add the weight of the container you are using, and you will have the weight of each container for your workout.

Below are two awesome total body workouts that take less than 30 minutes using water containers. 

Before you begin working out be sure to do a dynamic warm-up to get your body ready for the workout and to help prevent injuries.

Workout 1:

10 Deadlifts.

25–40-yard farmers carry.

10 push-ups using the container handles.

Rest 60-90 seconds and repeat.

Perform 3-7 rounds depending on you your goals and fitness level.

Workout 2:

10 Bent over Rows.

10 Triceps Dips or Push-ups using container handles.

Farmers Carry the containers up and down a set of stairs 1-2 times OR do 8-10 step-ups for each leg.

Rest 60-90 seconds and repeat.

Perform 3-7 rounds depending on you your goals and fitness level.

So now you have two “fun” and challenging workouts that you can do outside with minimal equipment. Use your imagination for other exercises! You can also do a higher number of reps or additional sets as you get more advanced. One last added bonus is these containers are great to have for extra fresh water during emergencies.

Give this workout a go and let me know what you think.

To your health,

Kevin

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Building an Awesome, Effective, and Inexpensive Home Gym Part 1

March 8, 2021
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Since the spread of Covid-19 our world and especially the workout world has been turned upside down. With gyms closing or only operating at limited capacity, and the fear of going back to a gym many have chosen to go the home gym route. This movement has led to the advent of cool but expensive home gym systems such as, Peloton, The Mirror, Tonal, etc. and a shortage of a lot of the basic home gym equipment such as dumbbell, kettlebells, barbells, benches and racks etc. These home gym systems are cool and do offer a lot of benefits and a large decked out home gym is awesome but many people do not have the space or the budget to have these systems or a big home gym. This leads us to an important question?

What equipment should I buy to create a functional, effective, space saving and portable home gym?

If you are wondering the same thing then this post has you covered.

In this post I put together a list of 5 pieces of equipment that can create a formidable home gym. This equipment will offer you endless variety, allow you to advance as you get stronger, gives you portability and it takes up very little space.

Here it goes.

  1. 1-2 Kettle Bells. For females I recommend a 15# and a 20# or 25#. For men I recommend a 20# and 30-35#. These weight options allow you to start at a lighter weight as a beginner and progress to a heavier weight as you get more advanced. It also allows you to have a lighter kettle bell for unilateral or single arm/leg movements and a heavier kettlebell for double arm/leg movements. Kettlebells are one of the most versatile pieces of equipment that offer endless challenge, variety, can be used for both strength and conditioning and can easily fit under your bed or in a closet. Price varies by weight and whoever is price gouging right now and can range from $36 for 15# to $70 for a 30#. The link I have here has them in stock.
  2. Exercise Band Set with handles, ankle straps and a door anchor. Bands are the most versatile, portable, and light weight exercise equipment there is. They take up almost zero space and are great for assisting or increasing the challenge of bodyweight exercises (think chin ups). Lastly bands are great to assist stretching. The set I have linked here also comes with ankle attachments, handles and a door mount. Price $30
  3. Swiss Ball or Physio Ball. A swiss ball is another excellent piece of equipment that offers a ton of variety, can be used to lay on as a bench and can also be used for stretching. It also makes a great seat to improve posture if you sit for work all day. Try switching back and forth between your desk chair and a swiss ball throughout the day. The price is cheap as well around $20-25
  4. TRX or similar suspension system with door anchor. Suspension trainers are another super effective, space saving and light weight piece of equipment. They offer limitless variety and are great for both beginners and advanced trainees alike. Price around $100-$129.
  5. Sliders. Exercise sliders are a great inexpensive piece of equipment that offers a ton of training variety and challenge. The ones I have linked to here are two sided so you can use them on carpet and hardwood floors. They also come in two sizes. I recommend getting the larger size either way as it is more comfortable and easier to stay on them during certain exercises. Price $11

There you have it. You can have an AWESOME home gym with endless challenge and variety for around $250-300. This equipment should last you a long time as well. If you are on a budget then I would recommend one kettlebell and the band set and swiss ball if you can swing it. (Pun intended) You can always get the suspension trainer and a heavier kettlebell later as you progress. The good news is most of this equipment is available now or comes into stock quickly. 

This is a simple solution to help keep your health, fitness, and fat loss on track.

Yours in health

Kevin

*If you would like personalized professionally designed programs or to join our fun and challenging virtual boot camp classes please check out the rest of my site for more information.*

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