07 Aug
Blog

Build A Strong Back Without a Gym

My first introduction to strength training was in my sophomore year. Every day after my last class, I made my way to the gym and got ready to let off steam. Going to the gym was part of my daily routine – a routine I still follow provided there is less bicep curls.

Now things are different and most, if not all, gyms are closed for the time being. So what are you doing? The possibilities are endless thanks to social media for #athomeworkouts by talented trainers.

Here are some of my favorites:

You don't need fancy setup or equipment to build incredible strength. Since you may not have access to a chin-up bar or free weights, I wanted to share some of my favorite body weight exercises for developing a strong rear chain.

Rocking cues

  • Initiate the movement through the shoulder blades.

  • Keep your arms locked and push through your arms the entire time.

  • Put something soft under your knees to help with discomfort.

Increased rocking cues

  • Raise your knees.

  • Initiate the movement through the shoulder blades.

  • Keep your arms locked and push them through.

  • Move with control all the time.

Baby crawl cues

  • Move with contralateral motion. (The right arm moves with the left leg.)

  • Look straight ahead and keep your back long.

  • Initiate movement through the shoulder blades

Leopard crawl cues

  • Raise your knees

  • Move with contralateral motion. (The right arm moves with the left leg.)

  • Look straight ahead and avoid rounding your lower back.

  • Initiate movement through the shoulder blades

Hollow crawl cues

  • Push yourself off the floor and tuck your tailbone in while focusing on squeezing your shoulders.

  • Move with contralateral motion (the right arm moves with the left leg).

  • Initiate movement through the shoulder blades

  • For added challenge, try balancing with two limbs off the floor

Forearm planks notices

  • Place your forearms on the floor with your shoulders stacked above your elbows.

  • Activate your glutes by squeezing your legs together.

  • Push away from the floor as you pull your shoulder blades into your back pocket.

Keywords

  • Put a pusher or towel under your feet.

  • Place your forearms on the floor with your shoulders stacked above your elbows.

  • Activate your glutes by squeezing your legs together.

  • Push away from the floor as you pull your shoulder blades into your back pocket.

Notes on windshield wipers

  • Keep your shoulder blades in contact with the ground at all times.

  • Squeeze your ankles and knees together throughout your range of motion.

  • As your lower body moves to the right, fold your right palm up. Repeat the process to the left.

Tabletop rock cues

  • Slide through your arms and lift your chest.

  • Drive your hips towards the ceiling.

  • Push through your arms to shift your weight forward.

  • Pull your shoulder blades down to return to your starting position.

3-point bridge information

  • Slide through your arms and lift your chest.

  • Drive your hips towards the ceiling.

  • Bend one arm and glue it to your ribs.

  • Shift your weight back over the support arm.

  • When you feel stable, you can stretch your curved arm over your head.

Bridge pushup cues

  • Keep your feet hip-width apart.

  • As you slide onto the bridge, focus on relaxing the glutes and activating the quadriceps.

  • Slide through your arms and raise your chest.

  • As you push through the quadriceps, you are shifting your weight back into your arms.

Sets and repetitions

You can customize any of these exercises to suit your training needs. I'm a big fan of following timed sets rather than aiming for a specific number of reps. Timed work allows me to focus on the quality of every move while keeping every session short and sweet.

Sample session

Preparation: 5 minutes

Exercise: 5 minutes

Leopard crawl

  • Practice moving with control and take as many breaks as necessary during the 5 minutes.
  • Focus on the quality of the movement over the quantity.

to press: 30 seconds per exercise with a 30 second break after the exercise

goal:: 5 rounds

Think: How did your session go? Were there any moves that challenged you? What is a positive aspect of your training session today?

Try one of these movements on your next workout and reap the benefits of a strong back.

21 Jul
Blog

Power Up Your Training Inside and Outside the Gym

In addition to skipping warming up, gross strength can be the most neglected attribute in the gym. People often think that they don't have to train strength because they are not an athlete. They believe they don't have to dive basketball or fire the quarterback. However, you would be wrong.

What is power?

Force and acceleration determine the power, P = F x A.

Force is the pushing or pulling of the interaction of the object with another objecttlike gravity or the concentric phase of pushups.

Acceleration is the speed at which an object changes speed, e.g. For example, if you sprint to catch a bus or car that is driving from a dead stop.

The advantages

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  • Better cardiovascular function – Exercise encourages the heart to pump more blood with each pump and return to a resting heart rate faster after exercise.
  • Increased strength – Most strength exercises involve fast contractions that build and improve fast twitch muscle fibers.
  • Increased calorie burning – Using the large muscles of your arms and legs increases calorie expenditure during exercise and up to 24-48 hours later.
  • Better power absorption – Every time your feet touch the ground, the triple force comes back directly through your body. Training force prepares you better for this.

    • Other benefits include being a bad guy and being a great stress reliever. If you are having a bad day, throw a medicine ball into the wall instead of hitting a hole in the wall.

    Hopefully I have convinced you that training strength is not only important, but also fun. Now let's start.

    When do you train power?

    Or if you are training your upper body, a Med Ball Slam will wake up the quick twitches of your back. Do three sets of 8-12 reps.

    How many repetitions?

    When you train strength, you have to be as explosive as possible. The moment you lose pop, you stop exercising – you are training muscle endurance.

    For most people, this is somewhere between 4-12 reps or 10-20 seconds of effort.

    How much rest?

    Although you may feel recovered after around 30 seconds, it usually takes (for most people) between 60 and 180 seconds to fully recover to get the most out of your next power pack.

    However, play with your rest periods to find out what works for you.

    If you have never trained strength before?

    Don't you? That's a shame. It's usually better to have a strength base, but the movements here are the most basic part of the spectrum when it comes to power.

    And when you do it, you get stronger. It is a win-win situation.

    Upper body strength

    My power favorites are medicine ball throws. They are easy to do, very effective and fun. Most gyms have hidden them in a corner, unclean and unloved, but once you use them, you will never let them go.

    The following exercises are best performed on upper body days so that you can suppress your bumps and moves. However, they can be done at any time, because who should I tell you what to do?

    When doing these exercises, be sure to pull your arms through. This tracking helps bring the ball back to you, which allows for a smoother transition between repetitions and gives you a little more momentum.

    2. Lower body strength

    There is a variety of exercises to choose from. For the sake of simplicity The following exercises are relatively safe, easy to do, and provide an excellent introduction to overall physical strength.

    However, if you have knee / lower body problems, please let yourself be guided by pain and put your safety first.

    Program recommendations

    Coupling strength exercises to a superset before moving on to the central part of your workout is a great way to add strength to your routine.

    1A. Med Ball Slam: 8 reps

    1B. Jump squats: 6 repetitions

    Break 1 minute between training and 2 minutes between supersets.

    Repeat 1-2 times.

    Or you can combine a strength with a mobility exercise to train your strength and movement at the same time.

    1A. Jump Squat: 6 repetitions

    1B. Half kneeling hip flexor stretch: 30 seconds on each side

    Current density circuit

    For more performance, do eight repetitions of the following steps per minute. After doing eight reps, rest the rest of the minute before continuing on to the next exercise. Do 3-4 laps for a total of 15-20 minutes that will make you sweat and smile.

    1A. Med Ball Overhead Throws: 8 reps

    1B. Med Ball Chest Pass: 8 reps

    1C. Med ball spin rolls: 4 reps on both sides

    1D. Med Ball Slams: 8 reps

    1E. Squat jumps: 8 repetitions

    Or:

    1A. Incline Plyo Pushup: 8 reps

    1B. Squat jumps: 8 repetitions

    1C. One-handed Med Ball Slam: 4 repetitions on each side

    1D. Med Ball Overhead Throw: 8 reps

    1E. Rotational Med Ball Slam: 4 repetitions on each side

    Wrap up

    A small investment in electricity pays off enormously for you inside and outside the fitness room. And who knows? You can jump tall buildings with a single barrier that resembles another famous superhero.

    References

    1. McBride JM et al. The impact of heavy or light load squats on the development of strength, power and speed. J Strength Cond Res. 2002 Feb; 16 (1): 75-75. 82.

    20 Jul
    Blog

    Power Up Your Training Inside and Outside the Gym

    In addition to skipping warming up, gross strength can be the most neglected attribute in the gym. People often think that they don't have to train strength because they are not an athlete. They believe they don't have to dive basketball or fire the quarterback. However, you would be wrong.

    What is power?

    Force and acceleration determine the power, P = F x A.

    Force is the pushing or pulling of the interaction of the object with another objecttlike gravity or the concentric phase of pushups.

    Acceleration is the speed at which an object changes speed, e.g. For example, if you sprint to catch a bus or car that is driving from a dead stop.

    The advantages

    Other benefits include being a bad guy and being a great stress reliever. If you are having a bad day, throw a medicine ball into the wall instead of hitting a hole in the wall.

    Hopefully I have convinced you that training strength is not only important, but also fun. Now let's start.

    When do you train power?

    Or if you exercise the upper body, do a Med Ball Slam wakes up the quick twitches of your back. Do three sets of 8-12 reps.

    How many repetitions?

    When you train strength, you have to be as explosive as possible. The moment you lose pop, you stop exercising – you are training muscle endurance.

    For most people, this is somewhere between 4-12 reps or 10-20 seconds of effort.

    How much rest?

    Although you may feel recovered after around 30 seconds, it usually takes (for most people) between 60 and 180 seconds to fully recover to get the most out of your next power pack.

    However, play with your rest periods to find out what works for you.

    If you have never trained strength before?

    Don't you? That's a shame. It's usually better to have a strength base, but the movements here are the most basic part of the spectrum when it comes to power. And when you do it, you get stronger. It is a win-win situation.

    Upper body strength

    My power favorites are medicine ball throws. They are easy to do, very effective and fun. Most gyms have hidden them in a corner, unclean and unloved, but once you use them, you will never let them go.

    The following exercises are best performed on upper body days so that you can suppress your bumps and moves. However, they can be done at any time, because who should I tell you what to do?

    When doing these exercises, be sure to pull your arms through. This tracking helps bring the ball back to you, which allows for a smoother transition between repetitions and gives you a little more momentum.

    2. Lower body strength

    There is a variety of exercises to choose from. For the sake of simplicity The following exercises are relatively safe, easy to do, and provide an excellent introduction to overall physical strength.

    However, if you have knee / lower body problems, please let yourself be guided by pain and put your safety first.

    Program recommendations

    Coupling strength exercises to a superset before moving on to the central part of your workout is a great way to add strength to your routine.

    1A. Med Ball Slam: 8 reps

    1B. Jump squats: 6 repetitions

    Break 1 minute between training and 2 minutes between supersets.

    Repeat 1-2 times.

    Or you can combine a strength with a mobility exercise to train your strength and movement at the same time.

    1A. Jump Squat: 6 repetitions

    1B. Half kneeling hip flexor stretch: 30 seconds on each side

    Current density circuit

    For more performance, do eight repetitions of the following steps per minute. After doing eight reps, rest the rest of the minute before continuing on to the next exercise. Do 3-4 laps for a total of 15-20 minutes that will make you sweat and smile.

    1A. Med Ball Overhead Throws: 8 reps

    1B. Med Ball Chest Pass: 8 reps

    1C. Med ball spin rolls: 4 reps on both sides

    1D. Med Ball Slams: 8 reps

    1E. Squat jumps: 8 repetitions

    Or:

    1A. Incline Plyo Pushup: 8 reps

    1B. Squat jumps: 8 repetitions

    1C. One-handed Med Ball Slam: 4 repetitions on each side

    1D. Med Ball Overhead Throw: 8 reps

    1E. Rotational Med Ball Slam: 4 repetitions on each side

    Wrap up

    A small investment in electricity pays off enormously for you inside and outside the fitness room. And who knows? You can jump tall buildings with a single barrier that resembles another famous superhero.

    References

    1. McBride JM et al. The impact of heavy or light load squats on the development of strength, power and speed. J Strength Cond Res. 2002 Feb; 16 (1): 75-75. 82.

    29 Jun
    Blog

    Is Your Gym Healthy? | Breaking Muscle

    Is your gym healthy? - Fitness, clean gym, public security, viral, commercial gyms, ihrsa, covid-19, boxing gym

    One of the great moments of the great pandemic was reading gym owners' social media posts explaining that they were not allowed to open, but bars for health reasons.

    No one should seek medical advice from someone who is not a medical professional, or assume that the guy who just made you lift your body weight is a health professional.

    Let us clarify that. Most gyms were all about looking good naked first, and then everything else. Let’s not pretend that bringing society to gyms is a salvation for society because it only sounds selfish.

    All of these gym owners can correct the future situation by figuring out how to make their gyms safe for use in a pandemic world and how they can be part of the long-term solution to chronic illnesses rather than pitch pitching. It won't happen, but it's nice to think that things could change for the better.

    Does that sound cynical? Well, maybe, but it's the truth and it's not the gym owners' fault that they are in the situation they are in.

    They would probably like to have hundreds of members who pay them for walking or being more active, rather than lifting their weights after them or cleaning their room.

    Because yes, most healthy activities and chronic disease reduction can be achieved without a membership of USD 150 per month or a group class of USD 20 per session.

    But that's not why you're there and part of the problem and part of the solution if you only agree to be. You want this membership and you want it in a boxing gym because it has a different meaning for you.

    Your gym is approximately 2,500 square meters, maybe more, maybe less, but it's not a huge, cavernous room. They have some bars and rings, dumbbells and squats, kettlbells, dumbbells, ropes and things that look well stacked on the wall. It's a dark, moody prison yard, but you love it.

    You will be the type of person who spends a good hour or more in this small gym, sweats profusely, breathes heavily most of the hour, and does so with little time for the intricacies of fitness etiquette.

    You drop weights, you run around, you drip sweat, you spray sweat, you are with your community of moisture freaks to the bitter end when the last bell rings.

    Yes, you are probably healthier than most people. Although you would probably do the same thing whether it is healthy or not. In fact, you don't do it because of your normal physical condition, that's nice, but you do it because of performance, the need to lift more, develop a new skill, or even compete. You go to your boxing gym even if you are injured because it is your rite of passage.

    And this is where the boxing gym dilemma opens up. They are not like the Globo-Gyms, in which treadmills and equipment take up every square meter and in which about 80% of the members never show up.

    They are reducing their cholestrol by having these $ 20 monthly payments in their accounts. It reduces the stress of thinking about the actual work of the training.

    Boxing gym visitors are more likely than any other gym visitor to spend most of their time in their gyms (there is an article about New Your Time that makes this clear). They are the one percent of the gym that goes public. That's about 600,000 people across 5,000 gyms (an average of about 120 people per gym) in the United States alone.

    After being blocked, boxing gyms are under pressure to be safe places like they were never really designed. It's a fact, it's not insurmountable, but it can't be done by the gym owner alone.

    As a member, you have to be so committed that the environment is safe for everyone. The big question is whether you are up to the task.

    The health and safety problem for gyms

    The International Health, Racquet & Sports Club Association (IHRSA) has a vast amount of information that it provides to its members, the owners of health clubs, about best practices for creating a safe environment.

    Granted, there is no way to enforce these recommendations because there is no way to monitor their implementation. It doesn't matter who says it, what they say, and how they plan it. Ultimately, the gym you go to lives in its own deterministic universe, where the owners and the most active members have given the end results.

    The biggest problem I see is the fact that the typical boxing gym is a one-stop shop for group and one-to-one classes. There is no real difference in the organization between a group of people who happen to do their own workouts and a group who follows the whiteboard routine that day.

    That alone creates a number of logistical problems, and to be honest, it takes patience, diligence, and teamwork between members and employees to enable effective protocols to be implemented in a COVID-19 world.

    So you have to ask two questions:

    1. Does your gym have written guidelines and protocols for cleaning and maintaining social distance? If not, why not?
    2. Does your gym offer alternatives for members who are either uncomfortable or at higher risk? Could it be distance learning, online training or even personalized sessions in a clean environment? If not, why not?

    If not, why not follow up is pretty important. I can understand how difficult it will be for boxing gyms to cope in a COVID 19 world. But the attitude is important. You will still be in a closed environment with many other people for a considerable amount of time and the likelihood that a lot of air will be shared.

    If bars have been responsible for the surge lately, how different is the setup from a gym? Many people come together and have a great time.

    From a purely logical point of view, this is not the best situation, but reduce the risk and you have reduced the likelihood of an outbreak if someone is exposed to the virus. If damage limitation isn't even a consideration, this should be of great importance.

    As I said, it is not up to the individual business owner to determine the fate of their members. It is up to you, the paying customer, to control your own risk. Make your decisions wisely and if nothing happens, it is success.

    Can you work really hard to do nothing? It goes against your mentality, but that's exactly what it will need. Time will tell how successful box gyms will be in a COVID-19 world.

    We hope that community really means more than letting a few people clap for you each time you get a PR.

    You might like it too:

    28 Jun
    Blog

    Is Your Gym Healthy? | Breaking Muscle

    Is your gym healthy? - Fitness, clean gym, public security, viral, commercial gyms, ihrsa, covid-19, boxing gym

    One of the great moments of the great pandemic was reading gym owners' social media posts explaining that they were not allowed to open, but bars for health reasons.

    No one should seek medical advice from someone who is not a medical professional, or assume that the guy who just made you lift your body weight is a health professional.

    Let us clarify that. Most gyms were all about looking good naked first, and then everything else. Let’s not pretend that bringing society to gyms is a salvation for society because it only sounds selfish.

    All of these gym owners can correct the future situation by figuring out how to make their gyms safe for use in a pandemic world and how they can be part of the long-term solution to chronic illnesses rather than pitch pitching. It won't happen, but it's nice to think that things could change for the better.

    Does that sound cynical? Well, maybe, but it's the truth and it's not the gym owners' fault that they are in the situation they are in.

    They would probably like to have hundreds of members who pay them for walking or being more active, rather than lifting their weights after them or cleaning their room.

    Because yes, most healthy activities and chronic disease reduction can be achieved without a membership of USD 150 per month or a group class of USD 20 per session.

    But that's not why you're there and part of the problem and part of the solution if you only agree to be. You want this membership and you want it in a boxing gym because it has a different meaning for you.

    Your gym is approximately 2,500 square meters, maybe more, maybe less, but it's not a huge, cavernous room. They have some bars and rings, dumbbells and squats, kettlbells, dumbbells, ropes and things that look well stacked on the wall. It's a dark, moody prison yard, but you love it.

    You will be the type of person who spends a good hour or more in this small gym, sweats profusely, breathes heavily most of the hour, and does so with little time for the intricacies of fitness etiquette.

    You drop weights, you run around, you drip sweat, you spray sweat, you are with your community of moisture freaks to the bitter end when the last bell rings.

    Yes, you are probably healthier than most people. Although you would probably do the same thing whether it is healthy or not. In fact, you don't do it because of your normal physical condition, that's nice, but you do it because of performance, the need to lift more, develop a new skill, or even compete. You go to your boxing gym even if you are injured because it is your rite of passage.

    And this is where the boxing gym dilemma opens up. They are not like the Globo-Gyms, in which treadmills and equipment take up every square meter and in which about 80% of the members never show up.

    They are reducing their cholestrol by having these $ 20 monthly payments in their accounts. It reduces the stress of thinking about the actual work of the training.

    Boxing gym visitors are more likely than any other gym visitor to spend most of their time in their gyms (there is an article about New Your Time that makes this clear). They are the one percent of the gym that goes public. That's about 600,000 people across 5,000 gyms (an average of about 120 people per gym) in the United States alone.

    After being blocked, boxing gyms are under pressure to be safe places like they were never really designed. It's a fact, it's not insurmountable, but it can't be done by the gym owner alone.

    As a member, you have to be so committed that the environment is safe for everyone. The big question is whether you are up to the task.

    The health and safety problem for gyms

    The International Health, Racquet & Sports Club Association (IHRSA) has a vast amount of information that it provides to its members, the owners of health clubs, about best practices for creating a safe environment.

    Granted, there is no way to enforce these recommendations because there is no way to monitor their implementation. It doesn't matter who says it, what they say, and how they plan it. Ultimately, the gym you go to lives in its own deterministic universe, where the owners and the most active members have given the end results.

    The biggest problem I see is the fact that the typical boxing gym is a one-stop shop for group and one-to-one classes. There is no real difference in the organization between a group of people who happen to do their own workouts and a group who follows the whiteboard routine that day.

    That alone creates a number of logistical problems, and to be honest, it takes patience, diligence, and teamwork between members and employees to enable effective protocols to be implemented in a COVID-19 world.

    So you have to ask two questions:

    1. Does your gym have written guidelines and protocols for cleaning and maintaining social distance? If not, why not?
    2. Does your gym offer alternatives for members who are either uncomfortable or at higher risk? Could it be distance learning, online training or even personalized sessions in a clean environment? If not, why not?

    If not, why not follow up is pretty important. I can understand how difficult it will be for boxing gyms to cope in a COVID 19 world. But the attitude is important. You will still be in a closed environment with many other people for a considerable amount of time and the likelihood that a lot of air will be shared.

    If bars have been responsible for the surge lately, how different is the setup from a gym? Many people come together and have a great time.

    From a purely logical point of view, this is not the best situation, but reduce the risk and you have reduced the likelihood of an outbreak if someone is exposed to the virus. If damage limitation isn't even a consideration, this should be of great importance.

    As I said, it is not up to the individual business owner to determine the fate of their members. It is up to you, the paying customer, to control your own risk. Make your decisions wisely and if nothing happens, it is success.

    Can you work really hard to do nothing? It goes against your mentality, but that's exactly what it will need. Time will tell how successful box gyms will be in a COVID-19 world.

    We hope that community really means more than letting a few people clap for you each time you get a PR.

    You might like it too:

    12