2010 January | Ask The Fitness Dude

Archive for January 2010 – Page 2

Time Saving Workouts

By FitnessDude · Comments (0)

Monday, January 11th, 2010

I hear this excuse all the time…”I do not have enough time to workout.” I know there is some cases where that is a valid statement, but very few. For the most apart (99.9% of the time) there is time to exercise, but people either are too lazy or they really do not have a desire to workout. It is simple to get some workouts in everyday if you train yourself and get in the habit of doing it. We are habitual creatures, so it is difficult to break bad habits and start a new ones, but it is possible. Here are some time saving workouts and tips.

First, write out a workout plan that you can do everyday at your home. It can involve push ups, lunges, squats, and crunches. Make sure that you alternate workouts, for example…You can do chest and arms Monday, and then do legs and abs Tuesday, and keep on rotating. Remember to do some type of workout at least 6 days a week to start off, so you can get in the habit of working out.

The workouts do not have to be long, but they do have to be effective. When I do push ups, I do as many as possible, and I do it three times. I then move onto some dumbbell workouts, where I work on my biceps, shoulders, and triceps. I also like to involve an exercise ball when using dumbbells, but that is mostly more chest work. For the most part, make sure that your workouts are slow and controlled throughout whole motion. But you can also pump out some quick reps to involve more muscle tissue, just make sure that you are still controlled and focusing on the desired muscle.

When all is said and done it takes me about 10 to 15 minutes to do an upper body workout. I do it before I go to bed, but you can also do it when you wake up if you are a morning person.

So here are some time saving workouts:

Without Equipment – Push ups, Lunges, Squats, Wall Squats, Crunches, Burpees, and squat jacks

With Equipment – Pull ups, Chin Ups, Bicep Curls, Chest Press, Triceps Extensions, Swiss ball exercises, and Triceps Dips

Equipment That You Need – Dumbbells, Resistance Bands, Exercise Ball (Swiss Ball) for crunches and tons of other workouts, Chin Up Bar, and a Chair (for Triceps dips).

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Categories : Home Workouts

Tags : bicep curls, burpees, chest press, chin up bar, chin ups, crunches, dumbbells, Exercise ball, lunges, pull ups, push ups, resistance bands, squat jacks, squats, swiss ball, time saving workouts, triceps dips, triceps extensions, wall squats

Funny Workout Picture

By FitnessDude · Comments (0)

Monday, January 11th, 2010

I thought It might be fun to post some humorous fitness related pictures up once in awhile. So here is there first one! I thought it was funny, it definitely has some truth to it too. Many people believe they do not have enough time in their schedules to workout, but the fact is…they don’t want to find time.

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Categories : Home Workouts

Tags : busy schedule, Exercise, fitness, funny workout pic, Funny workout picture, Health

Cable Triceps Pushdown

By FitnessDude · Comments (0)

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

The Cable Triceps Pushdown is a great workout for strengthening your triceps. You will need a cable machine to perform this work, so if you have a gym membership then you should be ready to go. Even though this workout is pretty basic, it is important to keep good form throughout the whole routine. If you do not keep good form then the workout will be useless and you might end up injuring yourself. There are different handles to choose from, but just pick the one you feel more comfortable with. So here is how you do a proper cable triceps pushdown.

Step 1: Start by facing the cable machine and stand tall. Your feet should be hip width apart and your elbows should be tucked by you sides. Hold the handle with your palms facing the ground.

Step 2: Start with the handle just under your chest area. Inhale slowly, then exhale as you push the handle down until your arm are straight. Make sure that your elbows stay in the same position they started in. Then slow bring your hands back to the the start position

Key points:

- Make sure that you do not rock your body, remember this is not a full body workout, but focus on your triceps.

- Continue to breathe, do not hold your breath.

- As you get tired, your elbow will want to move quite a bit, but make sure to keep them still and stationary.

The picture above shows you the correct form. If you would like to put one foot in front of the other, that is fine too.

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Categories : Cable Workouts

Tags : build muscle, cable exercises, cable machine, Cable triceps pushdown, Cable Workouts, lean muscle, lean muscle mass, muscle, triceps, triceps workout

The Army Physical Fitness Test

By FitnessDude · Comments (0)

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Here is some useful information if you are interested in signing up for the Army. You will need to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test which is made up of three different events, but knowing what will be required of you will give you an edge in the testing. When preparing yourself for the fit tests, you will want to make sure that you can do them within the time limits. Practicing these events would be a great idea, so that you know what you are made of before you show up for testing day.

Here are the three events that you will have to pass in the Army Physical Fitness Test. The events are listed in the required order you will have to perform them.

-Push-ups
-Sit-ups
-2-mile run

You perform the events in the order listed above, and you will have to take at least 10 minutes to recover and no more than 20 minutes to recover before moving on to the next event.

Push-up event (2 minutes) – This event will test the endurance of your chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles. Depending on your age, there is a specific standard of push-ups you will need to perform in two minutes.

Sit-up event (2 minutes) – Sit-ups will test the endurance of your hip-flexors and abdominal muscles. Again, depending on your age, there is a standard amount of sit-ups you will need to do in that two-minute time frame.

2-mile event – This cardio event will challenge the endurance of your respiratory system and legs, and of course there is a time limit depending on your age.

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Categories : Exercise

Tags : APFT, armed forces, Army fit test, Army Physical fitness test, army reserve, correct running form, crunches, diamond push ups, fitness test, long distance running, military push ups, push up, push up training, push ups, Running, running long distance, sit ups, US Army

Billy Blanks Tae-bo Workout

By FitnessDude · Comments (2)

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Billy Blanks Tae-Bo has been around for a long time, and he is still putting out Tae-Bo workout DVD’s. Billy developed this high paced kickboxing cardiovascular workout in 1976, but it was not until 1998 when Billy’s first workout video (VHS) was released. This Tae-Bo workout literally swept the world by storm, by 1999 the there were millions of sales and everyone was doing Tae-Bo in their homes. Billy’s most recent DVD release was in 2008, when he released the T3 workout.

I still remember when Tae-Bo broke out onto the scene, it was absolutely nuts! People were raving about this workout, and the success people were having was good. The infomercials for Tae-Bo were dynamite for its success, because people ate it up like candy. Tae-Bo changed a lot of things in the fitness world, it pioneered the way for home workout videos, it created new and fun ways for people to workout, and it also made gyms try to cash in on the Tae-Bo craze by offering their own kickboxing classes. In a lot of ways Tae-Bo has been very good for the fitness world.

But what is Tae-Bo all about? Is it still worth getting?

Here is what Tae-Bo has to offer.

It offers a wide variety of workout DVD’s, since tae-Bo has been around for a while there are a lot of different workout to choose from. The workouts are mainly based around high-energy cardio routines that are meant to pump your heart and shed fat.

You can by most DVD’s separately or as a set, giving you the option to spend less money or spend more money, but even the sets are only around 60 dollars. So it is relatively cheap.

You do not have to buy any other equipment. Tae-Bo mostly uses body resistance or it comes with the product you need.

Tae-Bo not only focuses on transforming the body, but also transforming the mind. (If you are into the spirit stuff)

Here are some Cons.

Most Tae-Bo workouts do not come with a nutrition plan, although the new T3 addressed that problem by offering an on-the-go eating guide and a weight loss eating plan, but nothing to extravagant.

Tae-Bo can become repetitive and monotonous. Doing the same workouts over and over again can be hard for a lot of people to stay motivated.

Tae-Bo does not address the workout plateau. This means that even though you might see results right away from doing the workouts, over time your progress will start to diminish. That is because your muscles and body get used to the workout routine. Tae-Bo fails to include muscle confusion.

Click Here To Get the Billy Blanks Workout System – Not Available In Stores

Personally, if you are an at home workout DVD type of person, I feel that there are better choices out there than Tae-Bo, that include different styles of workouts and better nutrition guides. Even though Tae-Bo has been around for a long time and is affordable, it just does not offer what you can get from other at home workout DVD’s. Other home workouts to check out are P90x, Insanity Workout, Turbo Jam, and 10 Minute Trainer

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I am back!

By FitnessDude · Comments (0)

Monday, January 4th, 2010

So if you have not noticed, I have not really posted anything for awhile. I have been on vacation, it was super great. On Christmas I left to California and went to Disneyland, California Adventure and Magic Mountain. It was absolutely incredible! I am ready to get back into the swing of things, and start helping you achieve your fitness goals.

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Categories : Home Workouts

Tags : fitness goals, vacation