[headline style=”1″ font_size=”50″ font_font=”Oswald” font_style=”bold” font_color=”#cc0000″ font_shadow=”light” align=”center”]Warning! Before Buy You Any Supplement, Read This.
[/headline]
I see another supplement bites the dust.
Not quite. But they do get a slap on the wrist.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued 4 more supplement and weight loss companies. Charging them with deceptive advertising.
There’s one in particular (more…)
Growing up it would be fair to say that I was a skinny kid.
Some might even say rail thin.
That’s to be expected. Back in the day, video games sucked. So I was always outside. Always on the go.
Since we lived in the sticks, there wasn’t much around. Public transit didn’t even come my way.
That meant if I wanted to do anything, there was at least a 30 minute bike ride ahead of me.
Fast forward a few years… (more…)
Don’t Get Behind The Summer Body Eight Ball
Winter is in full force.
Chicago set a record. The projected high for the day was the lowest high temperature in recorded history.
They’re not alone.
All across the US and Canada an extreme arctic blast is hitting. Think they call it a arctic vortex.
Even here in Atlanta we’re getting blasted.
This morning I woke up to (more…)
Happy New Year!
Time to get serious. Time to burn fat, build muscle and transform your body.
I know you’re pumped to get going. Gyms are packed all January. Seems everyone is in there working of their holiday indulgences.
Before you set your 2014 transformation goals don’t skip this critical step. Without out it, chances of success drop like a weighted fishing line.
Pumping Iron may have been the first bodybuilding movie. There’s no question that it helped make bodybuilding popular. It definitely started a muscle building craze and boosted fitness magazine
Starring alongside Arnold were a few other big names within bodybuilding:
Even though Pumping Iron isn’t (more…)
Plank Exercises Demonstration
Don’t think about another ab exercise until you’ve mastered this one.
Even though you’re still and don’t use weight, this is still a great core exercise. Planks do more then work your abs. The also hit your shoulders, arms, back, and glutes.
My friends over at Critical Bench put together this short video. It shows you a great little ab combo to help build core strength and get those abs to pop.
Once you’re done with all your main lifts give this ab combo a try:
Each week add 5 seconds to the plank and 1 rep to the oblique tucks.
As simple as it may seem, planks are a difficult exercise. And they’re easy to mess up. That’s why it’s common to see it done wrong. Here are a few common errors you’ll want to avoid.
[bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”20.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]
[/bullet_block]
If you’ve made any of the common errors from above, we’ve got you covered. Below you’ll see injury specialist Rick Kaselj go through how to do a proper plank. So take a minute to watch how to do a plank properly.
Don’t waste another second doing an ineffective exercise. Watch this video.
How Do You Rate
<30 Seconds = Needs Work
30 – 60 Seconds = Average
60- 90 seconds = Good
90-120 seconds = nice work
>120 seconds = Strong core, healthy back. This is your goal.
I don’t recommend you do planks for hours. It can get kind of tedious. Just use these times as a test. See where you rank.
When you can easily do a 60 second plank it’s time to think about adding some variation to increase difficulty.
Simplest way to increase difficulty is to remove a point of ground contact. Pick up a foot, leg, or both. This decreases stability making your core work that much harder.
Another way to up intensity is to get as much distance as possible between your hands and feet. More distance means more work. When this variation becomes dynamic it’s called a bodysaw. To do a bodysaw place your feet on something that slides, then move them forward and back.
If you’ve mastered planks you may want to step things up and give this a shot…
[images style=”0″ image=”https://fitnessdoctrine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/crunchless-abs-grouping.png” width=”300″ link_url=”http://atltrainer.criticalb.hop.clickbank.net/?w=123&tid=fdimg10r4″ rel=”nofollow” align=”center” top_margin=”0″ bottom_margin=”10″ alt_text=”6 week core training program” full_width=”Y”]
The other day I was doing my thing when I heard this scream and crash.
I looked over and a heavyset lady in her thirties was in a heap on the floor.
She was red-faced. I think more from embarrassment than anything thing else.
She got up. Brushed herself off. Then stared at the the big red box that took her down.
She got away lucky. A little banged up. A bruised ego but nothing serious.
Was her fall worth it?
I say No!
It gets my blood boiling. There is no need for her to be doing box jumps in the first place.
Overweight and deconditioned she’s asking for trouble. Jumping up on a box then jumping back off. Landing on both feet. Asking for a an achilles tendon to rupture.
It’s not worth the risk. There are other ways to burn fat.
Next exercise was a wall ball. Followed closely by sit-ups.
Everything is done for time, so the squats were ugly.
[bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”23.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]
[/bullet_block]
It hurt to watch.
The kicker was the sit-ups.
I think I was in grade 6 when I got the memo that sit ups were bad for your back.
Those looking to build muscle and get a tight 6 pack often but themselves at risk with poor exercises choices like hanging leg raises and toes to bar. Sure these are killer ab exercises. They work. But there are other options. So is it worth it. Is it worth risking back pain?
I’m not a big fan of CrossFit. Never have been. Never will be. They have come a long way over the years but they still have a long way to go yet. They still base their workouts on difficulty. If you roos your cookies they consider that a good workout.
A lot of hard exercises done with poor form doesn’t make a hard workout.
It makes for a bad workout.
Take deadlifts. I love them. Use them all the time. They’re great for building muscle. But adding a ton of weight then rounding your back makes a good exercise bad.
In the video below you’ll see probably the most overused back exercise done wrong. An example of a good exercise gone bad.
In Rick’s video we saw a great example of how back problems that can start in the gym. The usual suspects came into play…
[bullet_block style=”size-16″ small_icon=”23.png” width=”” alignment=”center”]
[/bullet_block]
[images style=”0″ image=”https://fitnessdoctrine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/no-more-back-pain.jpg” width=”259″ align=”right” top_margin=”0″ full_width=”Y”]
While those errors are responsible for many issues there are often hidden problems too.
A great deal of back problems originate outside the gym.
Day to day you may notice that you’re stiff, sore, and just don’t feel right. You’re not sure why because you haven’t done anything to aggravate your back.
These silent killers away from gym settings take their toll. Sometimes they sneak up on you. You don’t have any idea it’s coming. But they’re there and build up over time until…
POP!
One day your back gives out.
All it may take is bending over to pick up a pencil.
Sitting all day isn’t natural. Our bodies revolt. We develop bad posture. Get stiff and sore. Then when the clock strikes 5 we head out and throw some iron around, swing a golf club, or run and kick a ball.
You reach a breaking point. Your body just can’t go from staring at a computer all day to a full range of motion. It becomes too much.
This is usually when we hear things go bad. Even if technique is spot on.
One way to prevent that is to take a few minutes throughout your day and do a couple of stretches.
Bellow you’ll see Elliott Hulse go through two killer stretches to combat tightness brought on from sitting.
Protect your back.
Remember…
A lot of bad exercises done with “good” form still make for a bad workout.
Intensity in a workout is great. Just make sure you maintain good technique and pick the right exercises.
But if you can’t move because of a back injury it becomes a whole lot harder build muscle and burn fat.
Train hard but safe. And never, ever, EVER do an exercise with a rounded back.
Your back takes a beating. No need to put it through any undue stress.
Make sure it’s worth it,
Jason
Hurry Up! Coupon ends soon. After that price doubles.
[calendar_date style=”3″ month=”October” calendar_bar_color=”#ff0000″ day=”18″ full_date=”Friday, 18th October” time_1=”11:59PM EST”]
[divider style=”8″]
If you need a program that’s safe and effective. Grab a free workout here:
Recently, I invested in this health and fitness supplement reference guide.
(http://jasoncscs.com/goto/supplements)
Weight loss and muscle building supplements are a multi-billion dollar a year industry. There’s so much marketing and hype, it makes it difficult to know what’s legit and what’s a scam. So this reference has proven to be an incredible resource.
The two guys who put this reference guide together have tackled the problem head on. They’ve reviewed and researched hundreds of supplements. For over two years now they’ve been knee deep in studies and research papers. This is all in an effort to get to the truth.
They’ve cut to the chase and found out (more…)
I’ve received a lot of questions with the same theme lately.
So today I thought I’d dig in and answer a few for you.
First question…
Question: Jason, I don’t really know how many calories I should be eating to preserve what little mass I have left and still lose fat. 1400-1600 was the best I could figure, but I’m not really sure if that’s too much or too little.
That’s a great question on a confusing topic.
Calories are needed to build muscle.
However, a calorie deficit is needed to burn fat.
The two requirements make weight loss and muscle preservation a conflicting and confusing topic.
The best thing (more…)
Fire up your metabolism with alternating lunge jumps.
Plyometric exercises are a good way to boost your heart rate and add intensity to any fat burning workout. But you have to be careful with them. Because plyometric exercises are so intense, you need (more…)