Category Archives: Routines

Simple steps to bulk (how I gained 9kg in 2 months)

Before and after muscle mass gain. How to gain muscle mass

Before and after of my rather clean bulk. Next step, a cut to take out all the extra flab I gained

Aesthetics and fitness go hand in hand. We might kid ourselves into thinking that we’re only looking for strength and endurance, but, unless you’re competing (and I’m willing to bet you’re not), the “look” is something that we’re all interested in. Be it to draw gazes or having the mirror tell us we’re doing ok, it’s what got most of us into the gym in the first place, and something that is at least always in the back of our heads.

On the other hand, while men want to be (at least) a little bit bigger and ripped, women would do well with a small bulk every once in a while (don’t worry, if most men cannot look like Arnold without strong chemical help, and neither do you). So, here’s my step by step into how I managed to gain, pretty cleanly, 9kg in 2 months.

Define your basal caloric needs for the week

I thought a daily count was necessary, but, having been at 81kg for a long while, eating under my calories during the week and compensating on the weekend, I believe that taking longer periods is better. Some day your social life will get in the way (and that’s ok), and you’ll be either drinking or eating more that you thought. Don’t beat yourself up, but take it into account on the rest of the week (ie: compensate in more than one day, not the next day. That doesn’t work either).

How to know your TWEE (total weekly energy expenditure, or how many calories you consume in a week)? Join myfitnesspal.com and have it run the numbers. Multiply by 7 afterwards. Use it as a guideline.

Eat your proteins

I don’t care where they come from. Eat them. Love them. Sleep with them. And, when in doubt, consume more. I’ve been eating some protein during the day and a killer at dinner (usually around 0.5kg of meat + 2 eggs + veggies + cream cheese + 1 avocado). You’ll need the protein, wherever it may come from.

You can always go with the Renegade Diet. I haven’t tried it myself but have heard good things from friends that have.

Supplement yourself

However you see fit. I’ve been consuming one can of tuna fish every weekday for the last 2 months and have been loving it. It also makes sure I hit my protein goal for the day, or stay close enough.

Focus on strength

I’m not a fan of hypertrophy work. So, I focused on strength. And you know what? It probably wouldn’t have changed a bit in the net result

Strength train to maximize hypertrophy

Strength training. Works for lego, works for you – Photo by Pascal

(even more so, it was a bodyweight program). Just focus on doing the work, regardless of what it is. I’m pretty sure a more endurance focus will provide bulking results as well (you’ll just have to eat more). This is what I’m going to see what happens in September. Bigger volumes, less intensity.

Be clean 80% of the time

You don’t need to eat clean 100% of the time. God knows I wouldn’t take it. I was personally looking for a clean-ish bulk. The ish was the magic. I could drink and eat whatever I wanted, as long as I kept it to my weekends (1,5/7 days, around 70% really), and Sunday nights I’d usually eat less, since I was too stuffed from the rest of my weekend binge.

That’s it. There’s really nothing magical about it. It’s more about your diet than your workouts really. Create a healthy surplus and keep working out as you have and you’ll be gold.

If you don’t believe me, here’s the routine I followed:

Day 1

Front lever progression 5 x 10-15 seconds

Handstand progression 5 x 25-40 seconds

Weigthed pull-ups (@ 15kg) up to 25 reps

Headstand push-ups up to 25 reps

Pistols 5×5

Hanging leg raises 5×8

Day 2

Back lever progressions 5 x 10-15 seconds

Lsit 5 x 8 seconds

Weighted dips (very wide, don’t recommend) @10kgs up to 25 reps

Weighted tuck rows @5kg up to 25 reps

TGU 3×3

This 4 times a week in an ABAB fashion. That’s it. No extremes, little to no failures, and I’m happy as hell with the results.

Here’s the pic again.

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How to workout for busy people – Muscle mass focus

On this 4th part of the how to workout for busy people (part 1, part 2, part 3) I’ll focus on building muscle mass. It’s not easy, and don’t expect to Arnold-out in a couple of months.

What makes gaining mass hard

Barring pharmaceutical help, gaining mass is a complex science/art. There’s several types of hypertrophy which take in

Photo by Brian Auer

Photo by Brian Auer

account different volumes, rep ranges and intensities. More over, building lean muscle mass takes a lot more than just training. The simple formula would be

Eating at a surplus + plenty of rest + working out = more lean muscle mass

And that’s without factoring in hormonal profiles, etc. Of course, this is as simple as I can make it. Focusing on the working out part, the main variable here will be volume (meaning, how much you put up in total). Of course, given that we’re busy people, we’ll focus on density. Density will be taken in acount as volume/time. (BTW, I was introduced to density as a variable through Pavel’s Enter the Kettlebell, so I’m going to pretty much use that definition).

Building muscle for busy people

This whole idea was introduced by Charles Staley (although it’s probably much much older, as most things in the physical training department… Even bro culture), so, full props to him for being a genius.

For this type of workouts you’ll need, at least, a stopwatch, a piece of paper and something to write.

  1. You’ll pair two antagonist exercises (like Deadlifts and Bench Presses or Squats and Pull-ups).
  2. You’ll set the timer for 15-20 minutes for compound exercises.
  3. Set a weight with which you can do 7-10 solid, correct reps and start doing sets of 5.
  4. Go back and forth between both exercises resting as little as needed. As you fatigue start reducing the reps per set and resting more.
  5. Take note of how many reps in total you’ve done for each exercise. Strive for at least +1 rep every workout.
  6. Once you’ve done 30% more reps than the first session with a given weight, add more weight (2,5-5kg/5-10lbs. no more).
  7. If you still have time after your first 20 minutes (and energy), and insist on adding more exercises. For isolation moves do no more than 10 minutes (pairing curls with tricep extensions, calf raises with wrist exercises… take your pick).
  8. Curse at me. But curse at Charles Staley more, he made EDT (Escalating Density Training… as it’s called) famous. It really is his fault, not mine.

Unfortunately, this type of training works best with a barbell. There’s no way around it. You can use other implements, but truth be told, they won’t be as effective as.

Squat, a complete exercise busy people should never ignore

Any variety of this beautiful exercise should always be in your program. No matter what your goal is.
Photo by US Naval Force Central Command

Share this with busy people you know! With many changes in their lives, their fitness may go to the back burner!

Motus Virtute

 

How to workout for busy people – Conditioning focus

This is part 3 of the How to workout for busy people series (click here for Part 1 and Part 2), in which we’ll focus on conditioning.

Different types of Conditioning

Yes, there are different types. But, for practical purposes let’s focus on long sessions and short sessions. To build an all

Long distance running, conditioning, endurance. Not the best for busy people, but necessary

Steady state for long sessions will get you the desired results. Be them bodycomposition, endurance or recuperating ability

around conditioned body, you’ll have to do BOTH. Since time is an issue in this series, we’ll try to be as efficient as possible.

Training in long sessions will be focused on steady state cardio. I know, I must be from a different day and age if I believe this to be necessary (and you’re busy people, how dare I?). But if you think that it’s ineffective as conditioning (we’re not talking fatloss) then you have a different thing coming. Doing over 90 minutes in a row will not only improve your conditioning and endurance, but will also vastly improve your mental toughness and body composition (there, I said it).

Short duration training is where HIIT will work best. There are literally thousands of routines scattered all over the web. It’s effective, efficient and to the point, which is what busy people are all about. It will be simple, not easy.

Frequency

This one you should be playing by ear, I’d love to say you’ll have to do X amount a week, but truth be told, this workouts should leave you gassed. But I still advocate for higher frequency. So, if you plan on doing 15 minutes per session, think about going 5 times a week with short duration workouts, and once a week for long sessions. I recommend doing 30 minutes of HIIT and 90 minutes of steady state workouts.

The recommended prescription is 3 HIITs + 1 steady state workouts per week.

The Busy People Workouts

I’ll put 3 protocols for you to follow. Even though most modalities can be adapted to them, I’ll put what I found to be the best to apply it.

On the top of every minute

Choose 1 or 2 exercises (that complement each other), and set a timer to announce the start of every minute. You’ll be doing a fixed set and rest what remains of the minute.

Progress: Every time you hit the amount of reps, add 1 to every set. Once you start getting only 20 seconds of rest, choose a harder variation or add weight.

Recommended: Kettlebell swings, snatches, bodyweight squats.

As Many Rounds As Possible

This popularized by Crossfit method is as effective and brutal as they come.

Pick a sequence of exercises that will cover your bases (a push, a pull, a hip hinge, a squat, a core). Set a timer for the allotted time and do between 3 and 5 reps per exercise. You’ll keep going through the circuit until the time finishes.

Progress: Take note of how many circuits you finished. Next time you’ll have to do more.

Recommended: Bodyweight exercises and Kettlebells will probably go a longer way. Pick variations/weights you can do 10 reps with and do 5 per set.

Sprint ladders

Effective as hell but they will beat you. Choose 3 different distances (30m, 60m, 100m (that’s meters)). You’ll sprint the first distance, return jogging to the start line; run the second distance, jog back to the beginning; sprint the third, walk back to the beginning and start over. Do this 5 times. You’ll feel amazing after it (well, maybe not directly after it, it may take some recovery).

Progress: just add ladders, or go by rungs. Ideally you’ll always go balls out and progress will be slow.

You may switch this for kb snatches or swings.

Kettlebell swing, conditioning, full body. Great for busy people

Kettlebell swings are probably one of the best conditioning exercises out there.

Long sessions.

Feel free to keep this as optional, and if needed do it on the weekend. Do 90 minutes of whatever you enjoy the most. Keep it light and keep it constant. Don’t stop before the 90 minutes are up.

What? No tabatas?

No. Hell no. What most people know as Tabatas are a watered down, bullshit ridden imitation of the protocol. There’s four reasons why I don’t put them here:

  1. The tabata protocol calls for 20 seconds of intense, balls to the wall, execution, and 10 seconds of active rest with lighter movement (like jogging is to sprints). Please tell me how you’re managing that with squats. I thought so.
  2. Chances are that, with the exception of sprinting, kettlebells (and I doubt most people can manage it) and a fixed bicycle, you won’t be able to go all out for twenty seconds.
  3. If you seriously can go more than one full out tabata workout, congratulations, you’re better off than probably 90% of the planet. But, doing “tabata pushups”, “tabata pull-ups”, “tabata squats” and “tabata crunches”(I did puke  little bit there), you should be an all star athlete. Seriously.
  4. Most people can’t really handle it. If you can do the tabata protocol (realistic ones, sprint or bikes) then go for it. Chances are you can’t.

No go beat yourself up!

Next one I’ll be discussing on how to get both strong and conditioned for busy people. But chances are you already know how!

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How to workout for busy people – strength focus

On this second post of the How to workout for busy people series I want to focus on developing strength on a “time-budget”. Part one here

Strength = skill = practice

Why is strength so effective to develop when tight in time? Because strength is a skill. It’s the skill of building tension in the muscles, and every skill gets better the more we practice (of course, practice correct form, cues, etc.). If we tone it down, if you want to press more you’ll have to press more. If you practice more while well rested you’ll get a lot better a lot quicker.

Minimal approach works best

If you’re short on time you don’t want (or can’t) be in the gym, or your garage for long periods of time. So pick 2 to 4 exercises total. And practice them, really nail them down. Take this forced focus to get the most out of these exercises.

So, what’s the recepie for busy people anyway?

You’ll go to a HFT type of work. High frequency and intensity, with low volume (remember, a little every day goes a long way). Pick 2-4 exercises and practice them 3-5 times a week, and do 2-3 sets of 3-6 reps. The more you practice them, the better the results we’ll be at the end.

So, here are a couple of suggestions:

Barbell

Over head press (strict): 2 x 5 with a load you can manage 7 reps solidly. Rest 2-3 minutes between sets. Add weight after every second session that you nail the 2×5.

Deadlift: Same. 2×5 with a load you can manage 7 reps solidly. Rest 2-3 minutes between sets, adding weight after every second session that you nail the 2×5.

Squats: Follow the same protocol. Squats should be alternated with deadlifts (one session each) if you’re going to do them.

You can never go wrong working on the deadlift. Probably THE most complete excercise and importante exercise for busy people

You can never go wrong working on the deadlift. Probably THE most complete excercise and importante exercise for busy people. Photo by Amber Karnes

Kettlebells

A1) TGU: 2 x 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 reps. Start with 2 x 1, 2, 3 and add one rung to the ladder every second session you manage the alloted number of rungs.

A2) Goblet Squat: 2 x 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 reps. Start with 2 x 1, 2, 3 and add one rung to the ladder every second session you manage the alloted nmber of reps.

Go back and forth between this two resting as needed.

B1) Kettlebel Swings: 50-100 reps total. Keep it easy and don’t exhaust yourself with this. It’s just to finish up!

Bodyweight

Push up variant or Dip: 2 x 5

Pull-up or Row: 2 x 5

Squat: 2 x 10

Leg Raises: 1 x 10

Do this in a circuit fashion. Rest 2 minutes between circuits. And do these exercises like you mean it. Once you feel they’re two easy try a new, hard variant.

Now, that you’re not busy enough, what’s your excuse?

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How to workout for busy people

One thing I regret not doing in the last couple of years is not recording the excuses friends and family have been giving me to not workout. Of course “I don’t have time” is the most common excuse (and “I don’t want to” often the rarest). Most of us know this isn’t true. But what happens when our schedule isn’t going in our favor? Most of us are, after all, busy people.

What happens when time derails?

Usually (and I’m sure you can relate), I’ve got time to work, workout, write this blog, meet with friends, … and even read a

No time to workout

Some aspects of life will get in the way! Photo by Giuseppe Savo

book before bed, getting around 7-8 hours of sleep and feeling happy. But, as I’m sure it has happened to you, sometimes things just won’t fall in place, social life demands more time, work demands more time, and of course, we sacrifice those things that aren’t really a priority, we’re after all, busy people. In most cases (most certainly mine), fitness goes out the window. And this has happened to me during finals, heavier working periods, etc.

Of course, during those moments I didn’t know what I now know. And, being mindful of these things I do have a couple of back-up plans that respond to my goals for such times. I’ve decided I would always have time to practice, so, I’ll practice even in the event of having little time.

In this post, I wanted to share with you these “principles” I keep in mind to build short time effective workouts.

5 Rules for busy people!

Keep your goals in mind!

This is very important, since you’ll have to make decisions based on this.

Cut the fat

Pareto’s principle states that 20% of the efforts deliver 80% of the results. Lean your routine, simplify. What doesn’tbuild to your goals needs to go (this will be temporal after all).

A little every day goes a long way

There’s no reason why you can’t divide your workouts to “a little every day”. Grab your training journal and estimate

Pistol squats: great for busy people looking for a complete leg workout in an exercise

Working out in your apartment is a great time saver for busy people. And the pistol squat are great for a complete leg workout in an exercise

your total weekly volume of those key exercises that lead to achieving your goals. Divide this by 5 or 6, you’ll have a daily goal of sets that you can probably manage better, and in shorter time!

This also works for conditioning

Remember to enjoy it!

Most excuses come in the form of “I don’t have time for that”, when they really mean “I couldn’t give two tugs of a (for the rest, read Metropolitan (awesome comic))”. You’re workout won’t always be fun and you won’t always be motivated. But, if it’s a chore it will be a lot harder to pull off.

Keep it temporal

This is a great strategy to employ in moments of little time. But they can get boring. So, unless you fall in love with this type of training (as I have, and miss it), keep it only for moments that you have to rush it (like finals, life with kids, etc.).

What are the weirdest excuses you’ve heard? Post them in the comment section so we can all have a laugh!

Next post will be featuring a couple of workouts with this in mind, so if you have any particular time restriction, be sure to let me know so I can feature something factoring it!

Motus Virtute!

Why use kettlebells and 2 workouts

Far from still being the underground turned culty fitness tool that it was half a decade ago, KBs have come into the mainstream. There’s a lot said about how and when to use this tool, and their apparant benefits. All this aside, what I’m happiest about is, I no longer have to describe a cannonball with a handle, most everyone knows what it is.

Why use Kettlebells

The kettlebell is, in my opinion, one of the best tools out there for overall fitness for the everyday Joe and Jane. Kettlebells can and will help you develop

  • Strength: this are the grinding movements

    Kettlebell clean, kettlebell military press, strength training with kettlebells

    Clean the kettlebell strongly, else you’ll bang up your forearm! – Photo by Ken Liu

  • Conditioning: through repetitive ballistics
  • Flexibility: if used wisely
  • Power: Through heavy ballistic excercises
  • Mobility: think windmills and TGUs.

Are they the best tools for each job. Hell no. But they’re good for the development of an all around athlete/enthusiast. And, they’re very easily integrated with other tools.

(I could get into more detail about the advantages of practicing the hip drive or how all these attributes can be trained. But that’s a subject for a book, and not a blog post)

Disadvantages of kettlebells (why not use kettlebells)

They’re not a specialist’s tool. If you want to be the strongest or the most powerful, you can’t beat a barbell. You want to be the most flexible, yoga is your tool. You want to be the best at anything, there are appropiate tools that will let you specialize in each: endurance, flexibility, mobility, strength, hyperthorphy… All can be improved with a KB, but no to the same level as.

So, Why use kettlebells then?

Kettlebells will give you a blend of strength, endurance and power that can’t really be described as “strength-endurance” or “power-endurance” but more as an: ease of being. Having practiced on and off with kettlebells (sometimes my goals are more specialized) I can attest to the fact that any regular task gets easier (like playing football(or soccer) for about two hours with legs that just won’t quit), that joint health increases, and that the grass gets even greener (ok, maybe not that much).

In other words, unless you’re focused on a particular sport, kettlebells are probably the right tool for you.

The Workouts

1) KB solo

This an beginner to intermidiate plan and should be done 3 or 4 times a week. Please keep your recovery in mind. It has an all around focus (if you want to go more frequent, change the number of sets to 3). Don’t ever go to failure!

A1) TGU 3×3

Rest 1-2 minutes between sets. Go heavy, but never to failure.

B1) Clean + Military Press 5×5

B2) KB one arm row 5×5

Rest one minute between each excercise

Kettlebell swing

Expect a healthy sweat! Photo by John Calnan

C1) Goblet Squat 5×5-10

C2) Heavy KB 1H Swings or Snatches 5×5

Rest one minute between each excercise.

D1) Kettlebell 2H swings 5x 15-20

Rest 30″ to 1 minute between sets. Jog in place or jump an imaginary rope.

After this have a cool down with stretches and some mobility work for recovery.

2) KB + Bodyweight

This is an all arounder that will hit each and every movement pattern in the most effective way I know of. Do this 4 times a week.

Day 1

A) TGU 3×3 (can’t beat this baby)

Go heavy. But never to failure. Rest one or two minutes between sets.

B1) KB Clean + Press 5×5

B2) Pullup progression 5×5 (pick one you can do up to 8 reps barely). If this is your pull-up, weight them!

Rest 1 minute between excercises

C1) Goblet Squat 5×5

C2) 1H heavy swings 5×5

Rest one minute between excercises.

D1) Burpees 5x as much as you can with perfect form (I don’t care about speed here, just go as fast as you can while remaining as controlled as you can).

Day 2

A) Handstand holds 3x 50% of your max holding time.

Keep your body straight (or better yet, face the wall and touch it with your chest). Rest one or two minutes between each set.

B1) Push-up progression (or dips) 5×5

B2) KB Row 5×5

Rest 1 minute between each set

C1) Pistol Squat progression 5×5 (use a progression you can do about 8 perfect reps, but not 9)

C2) KB Snatch or 1H heavy swing 5×5

Rest 1 minute between each set

D1) Kettlebell 2H swing 5x as many as you can with perfect form and a solid hip drive.

After you finish each workout, cool down with some stretches and mobility work for recovery.

Conclusion

If you can use them, Kettlebells are a great addition to any fitness program, just be mindful of what your goals are and what you’re looking for. If you want to be a specialist, then the KB is probably not your cuppa. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for all around development to above average, but not elite levels, then by all means, go buy the damned thing!

Shameless advertising bit – where I learned most of kettlebells from

Why use kettlebells

One of the best damn books to get you started, and then some

To finish this post off I’d like to share with you where I learned most kettlebell skills and probably the most important book to have in a kettlebell library. The Russian Kettlebell Challenge (affiliate link). by Pavel Tsatsouline is a golden oldie. Even though there have been several other great books by the same author (Enter the Kettlebell and Simple & Sinister to say the least) this one I believe is the most complete of the three, the only lacking part I found is: there’s no information on the TGU (which later became a staple in both his certifications, and an exercise that one must simply do).

*Note: all the above links are from affiliate programs and will lead you either to Dragondoor or Amazon product pages. Just FYI.

Motus Virtute

Bodyweight strength workout for beginners

I’ll keep this one simple and to the point, since that’s what you’re looking for. Mind you, this bodyweight strength workout and progressions are thought for beginners. Intermediate and advanced trainees may find a couple of ideas here, but this won’t really help you progress.

Defining a beginner

Here we will group everyone that isn’t used to bodyweight training. Why? Because there are subtle differences between weight traning and bodyweight training that include the coordination of several muscle groups and the movements in particluar. So, even though you’ll breeze through some sessions until you find your sweet spot, it’s highly recommended you start at the very beginning.

How we’ll test it

We’re going to test it through sheer number of reps. Before you start on this you’ll test yourselves in full bodyweight squats and pushups in one minute. Only good reps count, so take your time, don’t hurry up (think of going as fast as you can go in complete control). You’ll retest yourself at the end of the 6th week. Write down those numbers (both before and after).

What results can you expect?

Even though these will vary for individuals, and as far as body composition goes it will rely on your diet, you can expect some fatloss, muscle growth, conditioning and strength gains, as well as some mobility progress as well. This will depend on each individual, and the fact that you’re beginners will let you gain some of those noob gains. More experienced lifters won’t enjoy so many benefits because, well, your body is already stronger. Of course, your reps will go up, if anything, through sheer practice.

How to do it

This bodyweight strength workout is performed in a circuit. Meaning you’ll perform one exercise right after you finish the one before. After each circuit you’ll rest 2-3 minutes.

Reps: keep them low, 3 to 6, never over 8.

Sets: keep them mid to high, 3 to 5.

Frequency: as often as you like, at least 3x a week, but feel free to go up to 5 if you can take it!

Progression

You’ll be performing exercises until they stop working for you. Basically, once you hit the 10 rep mark in easier exercises it’s safe to start with 3 reps of the next in order of difficulty. Squats, at the beginning, you’ll be doing up until the 20 rep mark. Why? Because I said so. This will vary between individuals, sometimes you’ll have to work longer on a particular progression, so give it time. Remember, this will work for you only if you work on it!

Do this for at least 5 weeks and deload on the 6th!

The Excercises

A Push: Choose one STEP from this list. Start with something that’s challenging enough to let you do 5 quality reps for

The squat. A must in any bodyweight strength workout

The squat. A must in any bodyweight strength workout

one set.

A Pull: Choose one STEP from this list. Start with something that challenges you as the previous.

A Squat: Choose one STEP from this list. Here, start with something that challenges you to get 10 reps.

A Core: You’ll start at Bent Leg raises until you hit 15 reps for 3 sets. Then you’ll go to lying straight leg raises and then you’ll go to hanging knee raises. Change the exercise once you hit 3 sets of 15 reps. Once you manage that start working on Hanging leg raises.

After you finish those exercises you’ll do 5 sets of 1 minute work with 30 seconds rest of one animal form. Choose between bear crawls, ape (my favorite animal form, it’s just plain fun!) and crab walks. Take it easy on them; they are more challenging than they let on.

The Bodyweight Strength Workout in a Nutshell

You’ll do:

  1. A test of pushups and squats. Take down how many reps you can do correctly in a minute (on the first week).
  2. A push + A pull + A squat + a leg for 5 circuits, resting 2 minutes between circuits. Keep it challenging.
  3. You’ll finish with some animal form travelling for 1 minute work with 30 second rests.
  4. Cool down with static stretching.
  5. During the sixth week you’ll do half of the reps per set that you were doing.
  6. At the end of the 6th week you’ll retest yourself. Then you’ll put how many reps you managed in the comment section below!

Now get to work!

Motus Virtute

PS: share with us how you did with it!

A push + A pull + a leg: a Simple Strength training routine

We’ve all seen a million programs. Right now, if you open a fitness magazine you’ll see the lastest GET YOUR ABS RIPPED IN 10 MINUTES

not the results of a strength training routine

Not gonna happen without some genetical, chemical and even magical help

PROGRAM program in which you’ll be even belly dancing in order to get your abs to show. Of course, most of these programs are overkill. That’s one of the many reasons they won’t help you succeed. Now, the list of problems with those types of strength training routine is long, hauntingly so, and it’s a topic for another post. Today I’m going to share with you my go to routine for time compressed moments. This, of course, is not the best program ever, but it will get you results with minimal, but very constant, efforts. This is a generalist’s program. It won’t give you buldging biceps, monstrous calves and laundromat abs, but it will make you stronger and fitter (it is after all a strength training routine).

So, to the program!

I’m going to give you options for kettlebells, bodyweight and barbells. I will not, though, give you machine variants, nor sandbags (since I’m absolutely not an expert).

A push

Barbell/Dumbbell: Benchpress, pushpress, military press, side press.

Kettlebells: Military Press (give it a clean as well), push press, sots press, sidepress.

Bodyweight: push-ups (variants), handstand push-ups, dips.

A pull

Barbell/dumbbell: Row, deadlifts. Weighted pull-ups

Kettlebell: Row, snatch, swings

Bodyweight: Pull-ups (if you can’t manage one yet click here, more advanced variations to come), Bodyweight rows.

A leg

Barbell/dumbbell: Font/Back/Goblet squat, deadlifts

Kettlebell: front/goblet/over the head squat, swings, snatch, Clean & Jerk

Bodyweight: squats, pistols, jumpsquats.(Variants and how to get to your first pistol here)

How to make it work

This is a minimalist program. Pick one exercise from each. You’ll be doing this 5 days a week (yes, 5). You’ll be doing 2-3 sets of each every day.

Deadlifts are key to every strength training routine

Completely complete, there’s a reason dead’s are a staple in every strength training routine. Photo by Tom Woodward

You’ll keep your reps low (swings, snatches and bodyweight squats may be done in higher reps, but I don’t recommend it), and you will never ever go to failure. Keep your rests longish.

How to progress:

Barbells: this one’s easier. You’ll be adding 2.5kg (5 pounds) to each exercise every 3 workouts.

Kettlebells: you’ll be adding 1 rep a week, but never on Mondays.

Bodyweight: you’ll be adding 1 rep a week, but never on Mondays either.

On kettlebells and bodyweight excercises once you get to 10 reps (which is what I call highish reps) you’ll change to a tougher variant. The reason I ask you not to add to the challenge on Mondays is because you’ll be better rested, but not necessarily stronger. Every one of these workouts should build to the next.

As you can see, it’s a pretty straight forward strength training routine. You pick a few exercises, and go, slowly progressing as you get stronger. You can’t go wrong!

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Burn baby Burn

Summer is a beautiful season. Light of clothes and with longer days, many grow self conscious about their looks (ridiculous, I know, since most of

how to lose weight is simple, just needs work

As little fat as possible. Photo by Laurent Jean Philippe

you’ve been working out all through the year!). Magic diets and even more magical workout programs appear in magazines, blogs, etc.

I hate this trend. I’ll help you loos the weight you don’t want, but believe me, the biggest thing you’ll feel is a sense of accomplishment. Good fat burinning workouts are hard and tough. There’s no magic about them, only sweat. So, if this isn’t what you’re looking for, please click on the next Trainers hate this guy link you come across. Now, If you’re looking to burn fat for the summer, there are 2 key things you’ll have to get in order:

Diet

You can’t beat the dinner table. No matter how hard you try, it’ll always beat you back. So get your diet in order or you won’t be losing weight. Almost every piece of literature I’ve read on this give two main tips:

Have caloric deficit of 10-20% (You’ll need to calculate your basic caloric need for this). You’ll have to burn more than you eat in order to lose weight

Count calories weekly, not daily. It’ll make it easier.

Anyway, I’m not a nutrition expert so I’m not really qualified to help. But here are a couple of links I’ve found helpful.

The Right Way to Lose Fat: What You Eat (Breaking Muscle)

Exercise (insert evil laugh).

Here I will be helping you. How? I’ll workout for you… not! I’ll be offering 2 different approaches that will help lose weight without changing too much of your regular workouts. But please bear in mind. Fatloss is mostly achieved on a meal to meal basis.

The everyday blaster

This is one of the simplest protocols, and it complements your workouts and practices (they do not substitute). We’ll basically grab a compound exercise and practice it every day for a set number of reps. Make sure you make it challenging enough to work, but not as hard enough that you cannot do your regular workouts.

The 300 swings a day. This idea is from Pat Flynn from Chronicles of Strength, so full props to him. The idea is simple. Grab your kettlebell every day and swing it 300 times.

Now if you don’t have a kettlebell, don’t worry: burpees will put a blowtorch to your fat. Build up to 100 burpees a day and you’ll be golden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX60BcsO_wE

Try jumping as high as you can

The finisher

Finishers are a great way to add burners to your strength practice. What’s the best finisher I’ve ever used? The sprint ladder. Sprint ladders are

how to lose weight? sprint

Run as fast as you can. Keep nothing in the tank

easy to understand, but do not underestimate them. You’ll need a small stretch of road/land/something

and mark 3 sets of distance (I usually do 30m, 60m and 100m, though the last one seldom looks like a sprint). Now, from the start line, you’ll sprint to your first mark, jog back to the start, sprint to the second mark, jog back to the start, sprint to the last line, and WALK back. Do this either for time or a set number of sets (5 works magic). Make sure you post your hate comments later. I like doing them on a hill.

A more civilized way of doing this (but not as effective nor adrenaline producing) is to do a short density set after your workout. Kb swings, kb snatches, burpees or high rep squats work wonders. You’ll set a timer to 10 minutes and do a set on the top of every minute. Once you can complete all 10 minutes with a given number of reps, add more reps. Try to keep 15 seconds of rest as a minimum (now’s when you add weight ;9)

Closing comments

Losing weight is a challenge best attacked head on. You don’t need to change your strength training to achieve it, in fact, I even discourage it. But it does take hard work and a focused will. This two suggestions will help you get there just remember that it’s mostly on a diet base that weight lose is really achieved. Enjoy and share your progress with us!

Note: following this suggestions may result in the following secondary effects: a higher level of conditioning and feeling of true awesomeness as bonus.

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You need a challenge and you need it now!

Challenges are probably one of the most engaging, fun and satisfying things to do while training. It gives a sense of purpose and of gains that is impressively motivating. Given this, people will usually over extend a challenge and do it repeatedly as if it were nothing more than a workout (ie: the 300 routine – what you found online is a challenge, a big one), this is a mistake.

A challenge should last between a single workout or a cycle (4-6 weeks), done to test yourself, or with a very specific goal in mind. That’s what makes it a challenge and not your regular workout. Why shouldn’t you go over in time? You’d be overtaxing yourself, compromising your gains.Challenge quote

Creating your own challenges

  1. Keep your goals in mind
  2. Be as specific as possible
  3. Make it hard
  4. Keep it simple!

If you’re going to blast a PR or test yourself, make it consistent with what you’ve been doing so far. For example, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to test your distance running when you haven’t walked a single block in the last year. So, set yourself for success, and challenge yourself to become better in something that means something to you.

If you need some inspiration, here are some great challenges to take on!

Keep yourself challenged and motivated!

Do you have any challenges you’d like to share with us?

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