Health Habits

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Posts Tagged ‘physical fitness’

Teens Just Wanna Have Fun

February 17th, 2010

According to the latest research, emphasising the emotional benefits of exercise is more effective at increasing levels of (teenage) physical activity than highlighting traditional health benefits.

Or, to put it in layman’s terms…

Teens like to do fun stuff
They don’t like to do stuff that is “good for them”

Well….duh!

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But seriously, there is evidence showing that people who believe that physical activity is enjoyable and fun are more likely to engage in sport and exercise.

To test this concept, researchers investigated whether highlighting the emotional benefits of sport and exercise to young people increased their levels of physical activity.”

The Study

To test their hypothesis, the researchers sent different types of SMS messages to kids (ages 16-19) encouraging them to “get active”.

Group 1 received messages that highlighted the emotional benefits of physical activity such as ‘Physical activity can make you feel cheerful. What activity will you do today?’ and ‘Physical activity can make you feel more enthusiastic. What activity will you do today?’.

Group 2 received messages that highlighted the physical health benefits of exercise such as ‘Physical activity can help maintain a healthy weight. What activity will you do today?’ and ‘Physical activity can keep your heart healthy. What activity will you do today?’.

Group 3 received a combination of the two messages – emotional one week, practical the next week.

Group 4 was the control group. Their SMS messages contained only the final element of the phrase used in the intervention groups, ‘What activity will you do today?’ for comparability.

Results

Analysis of the results found that the physical activity levels of all 128 participants increased after the two-week intervention by an average 31.5 minutes of moderate activity a week.

Amongst the naturally active kids…

…overall activity a little bit, but none of the 4 text messages stood out as being more effective than the others.

But… in the naturally inactive group, the teenagers who received the texts which highlighted the emotional benefits of exercise performed 120 additional minutes of moderate exercise.

That’s 4x the overall average.

Conclusion

If we (you, me & Michelle Obama) want our teens to get active, get healthy & drop a few pounds, we need to forget about motivating them with logic.

It ain’t gonna work.

We need to motivate with emotion…with fun.

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Any suggestions?

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microStretching

October 27th, 2009

We all know how to stretch….right?

Bend over, touch your toes and hold for 30 seconds.

So, why is it that after years and years of static stretching after each and every workout, my hip flexors, hamstrings, abductors, calves, traps, pecs and entire shoulder girdle were always uber-tight and I was suffering from lower back spasms every few months?

Could it be that what we thought was right wasn’t?
Could it be that just about every personal trainer in the world is wrong?
Could it be that Mr. Toe Touch was wasting his time and perhaps even making things worse?

This is where I found myself about a year ago.

So I went looking for another way to stretch my tight muscles back into balance.

And I found two very different techniques that worked very well for me.

Today, I am going to introduce you to microStretching.

Micro Stretching from Micro FC on Vimeo.

For those of you that need more info – here is an article written by microStretch guru Nikos Apostolopoulos that explains things in more detail.

Microstretching – Nikos C. Apostolopoulos

That’s it for today.

I am going to let you chew on this concept for a little bit before we get into the “how to” details.

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In tomorrow’s post, I am going to introduce you to Resistance Stretching. If you thought that microStretching is weird, wait until you see this stuff.

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The Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout – Part Four

October 13th, 2009

Continuing on from Part 3 of the Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout…

Psoas

Hip Flexion

In most of my clients, I see the unfortunate combination of weak yet chronically tight psoas (hip flexors).

So, for this muscle group, I like to combine strength training with an aggressive flexibility routine.

So, if you are going to train your hip flexors with this program, you NEED to balance it with some flexibility work.

Heavy Partial: N/A
Isos: Flexing your hip, push your knee/thigh into an immovable object and hold for 2-5 seconds per rep for 3-8 reps. Options include the underside of a table with your upper-body weight pushing down on the tabletop, or leaning against a wall & driving your knee into a stability ball placed against the wall, or this supine method shown in the video

Plyos: N/A
Vibrations: High Knees - 3-8 reps per leg

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy/explosive Hanging Leg Raises – 3-8 reps

Glutes/Hams

Hip Extension

Heavy Partial: Partial Deadlifts or Good Mornings out of a Power Rack – 3-8 reps
Isos: Using the same Power Rack, grab an unloaded barbell and Deadlift or Good Morning the bar up into the Power Rack pins. It’s your muscular force pulling up into an immovable object (the power rack) (see the iso bicep curl video for reference) – 3-8 reps

Plyos: Broad Jumps – 3-8 reps

Vibrations: Bodyweight Hip Thrusts - 3-8 reps – move as quick as possible

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy/explosive Hip Thrusts or Deadlifts or Good Mornings – 3-8 reps

Hams

Knee Flexion

Heavy Partial: Partial Glute-Ham Raise (holding DB or band resistance) – 3-8 reps
Isos: Partner assisted Isometric G-H Raise or Leg Curl (have a partner resist your movement) – 2-5 sec hold for 3-8 reps
Plyos: N/A
Vibrations: Seated Band Leg Curls - 3-8 reps per leg – move faster than the big fella in the video

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy/explosive Glute-Ham Raises – 3-8 reps

Quads

Heavy Partial: Partial Squats out of the Power Rack – 3-8 reps

Isos: Iso Squat out of the Power Rack (barbell or hip squat belt) – hold each rep for 2-5 seconds per rep for 3-8 reps.

Plyos: Depth Jumps – 3-8 reps

Vibrations: Jumping Squats – Bodyweight only - 3-8 reps

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy/explosive Squats, Front Squats, Zercher Squats, Bulgarian Squats – 3-8 reps

Calves

Gastroc

Heavy Partial: Partial Standing Calf Raise (Machine)
Isos: Using a barbell & a Power Rack, set the rack pins so that you can calf raise up into the pins (just like the iso bicep curls) 2-5 seconds per rep for 3-8 reps.
Plyos: Ankle Bounces – 3-8 reps

Vibrations: Light weight Calf Raises - 3-8 reps

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy/explosive Standing Calf Raises – 3-20 reps

Calves

Soleus

Heavy Partial: Partial Seated Calf Raise (Machine)
Isos: N/A
Plyos: N/A
Vibrations: Light weight Seated Calf Raises - 3-8 reps

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy/explosive Seated Calf Raises – 3-20 reps

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Alright, that’s it for Part 4 of the Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout

In Part 5, I will wrap this series up by showing you how to put together your own workout as well as introducing you to the Deadpool Getting Ripped Workout

Enjoy

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The Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout – Part Three

October 9th, 2009

Continuing on from Part 2…

Upper Back

Horizontal Pull

Heavy Partial: I don’t like partial reps for any rowing exercises
Isos: Isometric Row – Grab hold of an immovable object (ie. heavy barbell, cable stack, piece of equipment, flagpole, etc and try to pull it towards you using a rowing motion. Neither you nor the object should move. Hold for 2-5 seconds per rep for 3-8 reps
Plyos: N/A
Vibrations: Using a light weight (dumbbells, barbell, bands, etc..), perform 1 or 2 handed speed rows as fast as possible. I prefer the bands for this…less chance of injury Remember, think hummingbird wings - 3-8 reps

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy Barbell/Dumbbell/Cable Rows – 3-8 reps

Upper Back

Vertical Pull

Heavy Partial: Partial Chin-Ups with added weight, Partial Pull-downs – 3-8 reps
Isos: Attempt to Chin-Up or Pulldown a weight that is too heavy to be moved – Hold for 2-5 seconds for 3-8 reps
Plyos: N/A
Vibrations: Using a light weight (dumbbells, barbell, bands, etc..), perform 1 or 2 handed speed rows as fast as possible. I prefer the bands for this…less chance of injury Remember, think hummingbird wings – 3-8 reps

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy Barbell/Dumbbell/Cable Rows – 3-8 reps

Lower Back – Core

Spinal Extension

Heavy Partial: N/A
Isos: N/A
Plyos: Overhead Medicine Ball Tosses to the rear – 3-8 reps

Vibrations: Band Triple Extension or Swing Snatches (light weight) – 3-8 reps

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy Swings or Good Mornings or Deadlifts – 3-8 reps

Chest

Heavy Partial: Partial Bench Press in the power rack – 3-8 reps

Isos: Isometric Bench Press – Push the bar into an immovable object (ex. Power Rack) - Hold for 2-5 seconds for 3-8 reps

Plyos: Medicine Ball Chest Throws (lying or standing)

Vibrations: Band Chest Press for speed

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of Chest Presses for 3-8 reps

Abs – Core

Spinal Flexion

Heavy Partial: N/A
Isos: N/A
Plyos: Medicine Ball Slams – 3-8 reps

Vibrations: Standing Band Crunch – 3-8 reps

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of Standing Cable Crunches (just like the band crunch except using a pull-down cable machine) – 3-8 reps

Obliques – Core

Spinal Rotation/Lateral Flexion

Heavy Partial: N/A
Isos: N/A
Plyos: Rotational Medicine Ball Slams – 3-8 reps

Vibrations: Band Wood Chops – 3-8 reps (move faster than the girls in the video)

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of Standing Cable Woodchops – 3-8 reps

Okay, that’s enough for today.

In Part 4, we hit the lower body

Enjoy

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Drink more soda…it's good for you

October 8th, 2009

Not everyone is happy with the anti-obesity/anti-soda ad produced by the NYC Dept of Health.

And it isn’t just the people who lost their lunches after seeing that globby/fatty/veiny cup of goo.

It’s groups like the Center for Consumer Freedom.

In fact, the CCF was so upset, that they produced their own rebuttal ad and had it printed in the New York Times

BTW, a full page ad in the Times costs upwards of $158,004.

$158,004

And we’re not even including the costs associated with creating the ad.

We’re talking big money.

BIG MONEY

And thinking about that big money awakened the skeptic in me. And that inner skeptic started thinking…who is the Center for Consumer Freedom and why are they spending a ton of money defending our freedoms against anti-cola advertisements?

So, I did a little research into the CCF.

My findings?

Apparently, there are a lot of people who don’t like the CCF.

To them, the CCF is nothing but a front group for the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries.

It runs media campaigns which oppose the efforts of scientists, doctors, health advocates, environmentalists and groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, calling them “the Nanny Culture — the growing fraternity of food cops, health care enforcers, anti-meat activists, and meddling bureaucrats who ‘know what’s best for you.’ ”

Over 40 percent of the group’s 2005 expenditure was paid to Rick Berman’s PR company, Berman & Co. for “management services. As part of its operations CCF runs a series of attack websites.

Sourcewatch

But, don’t take their word for it….Check out the “attack” websites

And, if that ain’t enough, watch this video…

Or listen to the man himself as Rick Berman is interviewed by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow…

So, what do you think?

Is Rick Berman…

standing up for your freedom against the American nanny state?
or is he spinning lies in order to promote the interests of his anonymous donors?

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The Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout – Part Two

October 6th, 2009

In Part 1 of the Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout, I told you that:

By stimulating the hard to hit fast-twitch muscle fibers, even hardgainers can maximize the size, strength and power of their muscles.
To wake up those fast-twitch fibers, we need to use 1 of 3 different techniques:

Very Intense Concentric Muscular Contractions – ex. Partial range bench press or Isometrics
Very Intense Eccentric Muscular Contractions – ex. Plyometric movements (depth jumps)
Very Fast Concentric & Eccentric Muscular Contractions - like a hummingbird flapping it’s wings

After waking up the fast-twitch fibers, we hit them with…

Slightly Less Intense Concentric Muscular Contractions…through a full range of motion and performed as fast as possible. Think explosive bench presses.
Slightly Less Intense Eccentric Muscular Contractions….but we drastically increase the time under tension. Sloooowwww negatives on those bench presses.
With no pause at the top or bottom of the lift. The muscle is always under tension.

Today, I am going to give you some of my favorite Wake-Up Exercises and show you how to pair them with the traditional lifts to get the best results.

Wake-Up Exercises

For convenience, I am going to shorten my descriptions of the 3 style of wake up exercises.

Very Intense Concentric Muscular Contractions will be called “Heavy Partial Lifts” or “Isos”
Very Intense Eccentric Muscular Contractions will be called “Plyos”
Very Fast Concentric/Eccentric Muscular Contractions will be called “Vibrations”

I have broken the list of wake up exercises down by body part and/or body movement.

Hopefully, it is easy enough to follow, but if there’s a problem, please comment and I will update the post.

Here we go….

Traps

Vertical Shrug Movement

Heavy Partial: N/A
Isos: Isometric Shrug – Grab hold of an immovable object (ie. heavy barbell, pins in a power rack or even sit on a bench and grab the underside of the bench) and try to shrug it. The weight should not move. Hold for 2-5 seconds
Plyos: Slam Shrugs – Set up a power rack with the pins slightly lower than your shrug lockout height. Grab your barbell and position it beneath the pins. Then, shrug the bar HARD into the pins. Repeat for 3-5 reps
Vibrations: Using a light weight (dumbbells, barbell, bands, etc..), perform 5 shrugs as fast as possible. Remember, think hummingbird wings

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy Barbell Shrugs – 3-8 reps

Horizontal Shrug Movement

Heavy Partial: N/A
Isos: Iso Face Pulls into the floor – Just like a regular standing cable face pull, except you are lying on your back and pushing your elbows back into the immovable floor – Repeat for 3-8 reps holding each rep for 1 sec.
Plyos : Reverse elbow strikes into a heavy bag – 3-8 reps per arm

Vibrations: Face Pulls using a Jump Stretch band – 3-8 reps – as fast as possible

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of Standing Cable Face Pulls – 3-8 reps

Shoulders

Overhead Pressing Movement

Heavy Partial: Standing or Seated Partial Shoulder Press out of a Power Rack

Isos: Isometric Shoulder Press – Shoulder Press into an immovable object - Hold for 2-5 seconds for 3-8 reps

Plyos: Medicine Ball Shoulder Press Throws- Repeat for 3-8 reps – think speed!!!

Vibrations: Shoulder press using bands – 3-8 reps – moving as fast as possible. Remember, think hummingbird wings

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy Shoulder Presses – 3-8 reps – using either barbells or dumbbells

Lateral Raise Movement

Normally, I wouldn’t use this technique for an isolation exercise such as this, but feel free…

Heavy Partial: N/A

Isos: Isometric Lateral Raise – Lateral Raise into an immovable object (ex. Power Rack) - Hold for 2-5 seconds for 3-8 reps per arm

Plyos: N/A

Vibrations: Super-speed Lateral Raises using bands – 3-8 reps – moving as fast as possible. ala Speedy Gonzales

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy Lateral Raises – 3-8 reps – using either barbells or dumbbells

Reverse Lateral Raise Movement

Normally, I wouldn’t use this technique for an isolation exercise such as this, but feel free…

Heavy Partial: N/A

Isos: Isometric Lateral Raise – Reverse Lateral Raise into an immovable object (ex. Power Rack) - Hold for 2-5 seconds for 3-8 reps per arm

Plyos: N/A

Vibrations: Super-speed Reverse Lateral Raises using bands – 3-8 reps – moving as fast as possible. ala Speedy Gonzales

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy Lateral Raises – 3-8 reps – using either barbells or dumbbells

Biceps

Heavy Partial: Cheating Bicep Curls or Partial Range Bicep Curls – 3-8 reps

Isos: Isometric Bicep Curl – Curl a barbell into an immovable object (ex. Power Rack) - Hold for 2-5 seconds for 3-8 reps per arm

Plyos: Drop & Catch Bicep Curls – Start by holding a barbell at the top position of a bicep curl. As you start to lower the barbell, let it drop and catch it while your elbows are still bent. This will take some practice. You don’t want to drop the barbell. – 3-8 reps

Vibrations: Super-speed Bicep curls using bands – 3-8 reps – moving as fast as possible. ala Speedy Gonzales

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy Bicep Curls – 3-8 reps – keep the form strict…not like the cheat curls

Triceps

Heavy Partial: Partial Dips, Partial Close Grip Bench Press or Partial Pushdowns- 3-8 reps

Isos: Isometric Close Grip Bench Press or Iso Pushdown- Your tricep force vs an immovable object (ex. Power Rack) - Hold for 2-5 seconds for 3-8 reps

Plyos: Close Grip Plyo Push Ups – 3-8 reps

Vibrations: Super-speed Pushdowns – 3-8 reps – moving as fast as possible.

Immediately after completing the wake up exercise, proceed to a set of heavy Dips, Close Grip Bench or Pushdowns – 3-8 reps – keep the form strict.

Okay, that’s enough for today. This post is too long already.

Tomorrow…another bunch of exercises

Enjoy

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Get Fit and Save Money

September 24th, 2009

The “experts” say that low income families have higher levels of obesity because “healthy” food is too expensive.

I say….B.S.

You can eat healthy on a small budget.

This free ebook from Kerry Taylor shows you how to eat healthy and save money.
This post from Mark’s Daily Apple shows you how to eat a paleo-style diet on the cheap.
The Eat Well guide helps you find healthy and affordable foods in your neighborhood (Thanks to the Healthy Irishman for putting me onto this resource)
Fitness magazine has a ton of money-saving, healthy dinner recipes - Buddha Stir-Fry $3.04

McDonalds does not - Big Mac combo $5.29

Natalie from Nutrition by Natalie shows you how to eat healthy foods on a budget

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpqAjtiwmiQ]

Kathy’s Healthy Food on a Budget blog is another fine resource
Jimmy Moore shows you how to eat low carb on a budget (sorry about the singing)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PROSy8oqJWE]

And what about the government’s involvement in the cost of healthy food?

Billions of your tax dollars being spent on farm subsidies, and with less than 1% goes to America’s fruit & vegetable farmers…is it any wonder that a salad costs more than a Big Mac?

But, there is hope.

image: Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times

New York City is planning to “offer zoning and tax incentives to spur the development of full-service grocery stores that devote a certain amount of space to fresh produce, meats, dairy and other perishables”.

The plan — which has broad support among food policy experts, supermarket executives and City Council members, whose approval is needed — would permit developers to construct larger buildings than existing zoning would ordinarily allow, and give tax abatements and exemptions for approved stores in large swaths of northern Manhattan, central Brooklyn and the South Bronx, as well as downtown Jamaica in Queens….read more

So, there you go…no more excuses.

You can eat healthy while on a budget.
And if you want to save even more money, tell the senior levels of government how you would like to see your tax dollars spent (or not spent) on farm subsidies.
And then tell your municipal governments to create bylaws like NYC.

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The Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout

September 17th, 2009

Since building the Squidoo Lens about Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool Workout, I have become a big Deadpool fan and am really looking forward to the movie. I think the studio made a great choice casting Ryan “Smart Ass” Reynolds in the role of Wade Wilson.

But, as I mentioned in the lens, Ryan is naturally a pretty skinny guy.

As a result, adding a whole lot of muscle mass was job #1 as he got ready to take on the role of Deadpool.

And he did a pretty good job.

But we can do better.

In Part 1 of this series, I outlined the concepts behind my Official “Make Ryan Reynolds your Beeyotch” Workout

In this post, I give you a mass building workout that will put Deadpool to shame.

And I have named it…

The Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout

Like I mentioned in the previous article, the key to the success of this mass building phase is the focus on your nervous system and fast-twitch muscle fibers.

The theory is that since most hardgainers are slow-twitch fiber dominant, and slow-twitch fibers aren’t built for hypertrophy, we need to do something special to wake up those dormant fast-twitch fibers and force them to grow.

And here’s how we’re going to do it:

Each workout will consist of a series of 2-exercise supersets
The first exercise in each superset is designed to wake up the fast-twitch muscle fibers
The second exercise in each superset is designed to take advantage of the newly awakened fast-twitch fibers

How to Wake Up your Fast-Twitch Fibers

I was exposed to this concept about 15 years ago. At that time, I was training for powerlifting and strongman events. But my bench press was stuck. So, here’s what I did.

I would perform a partial bench press in a power rack with as much weight as I could handle. After a few sets of single reps, I would crawl over to standard bench press and attempt a maximum lift.

This technique allowed my to put over 30 lbs on my maximum bench press…after just 2 workouts.

The Theory

My strength was improved due to some combination of fast-twitch muscle recruitment and improved neuro-muscular co-ordination.

Since then, I have researched this topic…without much success. At least in the English speaking world. Those Russians were way ahead of us back in the day.

Anyway, most of you probably don’t care very much about the theory, so let’s move on.

The Wake-Up Exercises

I use 3 different methods to wake up the fast twitch fibers

Very Intense Concentric Muscular Contractions – that’s what I did with the partial rack bench press
Very Intense Eccentric Muscular Contractions – Plyometric movements
Very Fast Concentric & Eccentric Muscular Contractions - think sprints or throwing movements

Okay, your fast-twitch fibers are awake…now what?

Now we take advantage of those FTs, by exposing them:

Slightly Less Intense Concentric Muscular Contractions…through a full range of motion and performed as fast as possible. Think explosive bench presses.
Slightly Less Intense Eccentric Muscular Contractions….but we drastically increase the time under tension. Sloooowwww negatives on those bench presses.
With no pause at the top or bottom of the lift. The muscle is always under tension.

Reps, Sets & Bodyparts

Here’s where individual goals play a part.

Are you interested in athletic performance or just getting big and buff like Arnie?

My GPs were athletes, so I had them doing total body workouts. If they had been interested in appearance only, I would have had them do split body workouts (ie Back & Bis on Monday, Chest & Tris on Wed)

When it comes to rep selection, I had the GPs perform 3-8 reps on the Wake Up sets and 3-8 reps on the Work sets

For sets, I was much more fluid and looked at performance and time.

Max time for a workout was 45 min
But more important than time was speed. If I noticed a drop in the speed of movement, we shut everything down and hit the showers….not together. You get my point.

So, there you go. That’s the nuts and bolts of the Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout

In the next installment, I will give you some examples of Wake-Up Exercises and show you how to pair them with the traditional lifts to get the best results.

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The Official "Make Ryan Reynolds your Beeyotch" Workout

September 14th, 2009

A few months ago, I created a Squidoo Lens about Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool Workout.

The lens was essentially an introduction to the workouts that Reynolds had to endure in order to transform his naturally thin (aka scrawny) frame into a muscular, ripped physique worthy of superhero status.

Since then, I have received a ton of emails from guys eager to build their own Deadpool bodies.

The only problem was that I was underwhelmed by the original workout.

It was good, but it wasn’t great.

Sure, it would help you look like a superhero, but it wouldn’t help you perform like a superhero.

So, I re-invented the Deadpool workout and spent the summer beta testing it on some willing victims up here in Toronto.

And, if I say so myself, I have come up with a seriously kick-ass training program.

Over 3 months, my 4 scrawny test subjects:

Gained between 5 and 14 lbs of muscle
Increased their max strength between 55 & 197% (Front Squat)
Saw their speed, power & anaerobic endurance go through the roof (Hill Sprints)

And, oh yeah, they also lost a ton of baby-fat in the process.
The average body-fat percentage at the beginning of the test was 21%.
At the end of the 3 months, the average body-fat was down to 9% (a Bod-Pod was used to measure BF%)

In short, by the end of the summer, my little guinea pigs didn’t just look like superheroes.

They were superheroes.

So, without any further ado, I would like to present…

The Official “Make Ryan Reynolds your Beeyotch” Workout

(Because this workout is too detailed for one post, I am going to break it into chunks – today’s chunk will outline the theory behind my madness)

Like the original workout, my MRRYB workout had two distinct phases.

Phase 1 – Muscle Building

The key to the success of this phase was the focus on the nervous system and the development of fast twitch muscle fibers.

Using a combination of high speed movements and plyometric style loading, my GPs forced their fast twitch muscle fibers to engage during part 1 of their 2-part supersets.

(Here’s how I activated their fast-twitch muscle fibers)

Once I had the fast twitch fibers turned on, I moved them immediately to part-2 of the superset.

In part 2, the GPs were able to handle loads much heavier than normal because of the activation of their hard to activate fast twitch fibers.

Taking advantage of this situation, part 2 of the superset consisted of explosive concentric movements combined with slow eccentric movements. The GPs were not allowed to pause at either the top or bottom of the lift.

And yet, due to the activation of the fast twitch fibers, the GPs were able to lift more than ever before, add more muscle than ever before and yet experience only moderate muscle soreness.

Depending upon the exercise, the muscle group and the techniques used, reps for each part of the superset ranged from 3 to 8 reps.

Phase 2 – Getting Ripped

Phase 2 is all about melting the baby-fat off of the newly built muscle.

To do that, I introduced the GPs to some particularly nasty HIIT and HIRT workouts.

And while I expected fairly rapid fat loss, I did not expect what happened.

For some reason, in the first week, each of the GPs lost over 6 lbs of fat.

And this is after almost 2 months of very intense training and a strict diet. They had already lost fat during phase 1.

I can only speculate on the reason behind the very rapid fat loss, but to be honest, I don’t care. I am more than happy to leave the science to the scientists. All I know is that this workout hit one out of the park.

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In the next installment of this series, I will get into the nuts and bolts of the workout.

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You Don't Know HIIT

September 14th, 2009

Andre Smith - O-Lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals gets his HIIT on

Yesterday, Timbo (aka Dr. Timothy Miller) added a comment to one of my older HIIT posts – HIIT v.s. Type 2 Diabetes.

Since it was an older post, most of you wwill never see his comment.

And that would be a shame.

Tim’s description of a real HIIT workout was fantastic:

I’ve been doing HIIT workouts about four times per week for three weeks now. I do it on the elliptical trainer at the gym. (The stationary bike tends to hurt my knee.) I can go harder on the stair master, because I’m using my upper body at the same time as my legs. I warm up for about five minutes at modest speed and resistance, then turn up the resistance really high and go AS HARD AS I CAN for 30 seconds, then go slow and easy for five to ten minutes, and repeat, until I have done four high-intensity intervals. I go slow and easy for about five minutes to cool down. 25 to 30 minutes total.

When I say I go “as hard as I can,” this is what I mean. On a Life Fitness model 9500 elliptical trainer, I’m at level 18 at 80 to 90 rpm. This is equivalent to a rate 2000 calories per hour.

I’m a type-2 diabetic, 60 years old. The last two times I checked, I started the workout with blood glucose of 140 to 150. After the workout, it was down to about 70. I’ve had to reduce my insulin dose.

I’m hoping I will reduce my insulin need, and maybe won’t need insulin at all. (I don’t use oral meds.) Time will tell. I believe none of what I hear and half of what I see.

All the ecstatic blog posts and articles forget to mention one thing: These workouts are exhausting! Very exhausting. After each interval, I feel like I might faint and fall off the machine. I remain winded for about five minutes after each one. I’m physically tired for at least an hour after I leave the gym. I was already fairly fit. I’ve been doing fairly regular cardio and strength exercises for years. Maybe I’ll get used to these workouts after awhile.

HIIT is all about the effort – Full out 100% total exhaustion effort.

So, the next time you do a HIIT workout, ask yourself…Am I giving 100% effort?

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Also, in tomorrow’s post, I am going to let you in on a new training program that I have been beta testing all summer.

If you are interested in adding some muscle, increasing strength, power, anaerobic endurance and getting ripped, stay tuned.

I have never had a program work as well as this one.

No B.S.

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If you like what you see here, click here for updates

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