While visiting family over the Holidays, I went to my brother-in-law’s gym.  They had several different sizes of kettlebells up to 80 pounds.  I wanted to see how much I could snatch, and I was able to work up to a 32kg kettlebell snatch on each side.  The left side was a little shaky, and I had to bring it down immediately after the snatch.  The right side was rock solid, though.

I did not attempt the 80 pound bell, but it felt great to get the 32kg bell up.

One of these is definitely on my wish list now.

My wife is planning on doing this program, and I am really excited for her. I think that she is going to do great.

When Dr. John Berardi dropped me an line the other day, telling me all about his new program, I thought for a second the guy had lost his mind.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I respect Dr Berardi.  He’s recognized as one of the top nutrition coaches in the world. And his programs get people results.  Fast.

However, when I watched this video he sent over, and learned that he’s giving away $40,000 of his own money, he definitely got my attention.

Check out this blog post for yourself, here.

Now, to qualify for this reward, you have to participate in the Lean Eating program.  But that’s a no brainer. You should want to do that ANYWAY if you’re interested in body transformation because there is nothing else like it.

You get 6 months of world class coaching, the type of coaching you can’t find, well, anywhere.  And, during these
6 months, if you achieve the best body transformation, you’ll win 10K.

Worst case scenario, you come out with the best body of your life.  Best case scenario, you come out with the best body of your life, and 10 GRAND.

So, I highly encourage you to check out the information here.  In it, Dr Berardi shares with you two critical components for body transformation success.

And then he tells you exactly how one man and one woman are going to swoop in and claim $10 G’s of his own money.

Now, this message is time sensitive.  No, it’s not gonna self-destruct or anything. However, spots are limited in this program.  And LOTS of people want in.

So, if you’re interested in finding out exactly how to eat to get in the best shape of your life, click the link below.
10 grand may be waiting for you on the other side:

How to win $10k

Mike

Lately I have been doing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for my cardio sessions.  I have been doing this on the spinning bike and it’s been really intense.

I have been doing 45 seconds of high intensity followed by 90 seconds of recovery.  I typically do this for about 20 minutes, but I plan to work up to about 30 minutes.  For the higher intensity part, I increase the resistance and also peddle faster.  I downloaded a stopwatch application for my phone (T-Mobiel G1), which has helped keep the timing right.  Unfortunately, the application doesn’t do interval timing automatically, but I just stop, reset, and start at each intensity transition.

This type of cardio session is highly effective for burning calories and revving up the metabolism.  It’s also much more fun than doing slow cardio for over an hour.  I get bored with the long cardio sessions.

Lately I’ve been listening to a couple of fitness podcasts while I’m at work and sometimes while I’m at the gym doing cardio.

I really like TheFitCast and Strength Coach.

The Fitcast has some great hosts (Kevin Larrabee, Jonathan Fass, Tony Gentilcore, and Leigh Peele)  and they frequently have interviews with some very notable people in the fitness industry.  Most, if not all, of the hosts have written articles for T-Nation.  I have listened to interviews from John Berardi, Tom Venuto, Dave Tate, Mike Boyle, Eric Cressey, Alwyn Cosgrove, and many others.  The advice and information is top notch, and I find that it keeps me motivated to train hard and eat well.

The Strength Coach podcast is the official podcast for Mike Boyle and has some great information as well.  Sometimes I find that it’s a little over my head or geared more towards those who train athletes; however, its still motivating and I almost always learn something new from each episode.

Check out these podcasts and hopefully they will be motivating to you as well.  The links are embedded above, but you can also just search by name on iTunes and subscribe there.

My Latest Workout

The follwing is my latest workout program.  It consists of three separate workouts that I do once each per week – typically Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  This is more of a muscle building program.  Last week was my first time through, and I have been really sore.

Day 1

Week 1:  3 sets of 15
Week 2:  4 sets of 10
Week 3:  3 sets of 12
Week 4:  4 sets of 6-8

A1)  Dumbbell Flat Bench Press
A2)  Cable Rows

B1)  Incline Flies
B2)  Bent-Over Lateral Raise, Thumbs Down

C1)  Dumbbell Curls
C2)  Dumbbell Skull Crushers

D1)  Hammer Curls
D2)  Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks
D3)  Standing Cable Crunches

Day 2

Week 1:  4 sets of 10
Week 2:  3 sets of 15
Week 3:  4 sets of 6-8
Week 4:  3 sets of 12

A1)  Walking Lunges
A2)  Dumbbell Shoulder Press

B1)  Bulgarian Split Squats
B2)  Arnold Press

C1)  Single-Arm Shrugs
C2)  Wrist Roller
C3)  Hanging Leg Raises

Day 3

Week 1:  3 sets of 15
Week 2:  4 sets of 10
Week 3:  3 sets of 12
Week 4:  4 sets of 6-8

A1)  Dumbbell Incline Bench Press
A2)  Face Pulls

B1)  Flat Flies
B2)  Cable Shrugs

C1)  Dumbbell Preacher Curls
C2)  Cable Tricep Extensions with Straight Bar
C3)  Ab Roller

My current workout program has four separate workouts that I have been doing four days a week.  It is a strength based workout, and I have been enjoying it.

Day 1

A) Squats:
Weeks 1 and 2:  5 sets of 4
Week 3:  6 sets of 4
Weeks 4 and 5:  7 sets of 3

Superset with rest
B1) Overhead Squat:  3 sets of 12
B2) Dynamic Push-Ups:  3 sets of 12

C) Side Bridges:  3 sets of 30 to 60 seconds each side

Day 2

Superset with rest
A1) Barbell Bench Press
A2) Cable Rows
Weeks 1 and 2:  5 sets of 4
Week 3:  6 sets of 4
Weeks 4 and 5:  7 sets of 3

Superset with rest
B1) Close-Grip Lat Pulldown:  3 sets of 8
B2) Barbell Shoulder Press:  3 sets of 8

C) Lower-Body Russian Twist:  3 sets of 12

Day 3

A) Speed Deadlifts
Weeks 1 and 2:  5 sets of 4
Week 3:  6 sets of 4
Weeks 4 and 5:  7 sets of 3

Superset with rest
B1) Romanian Deadlifts:  3 sets of 8
B2) Static Lunges:  3 sets of 8

C) Bridges:  3 sets of 30 to 60 seconds

Day 4

Superset with rest
A1) Chin-Ups
A2) One-Arm Dumbbell Push Press
Weeks 1 and 2:  5 sets of 4
Week 3:  6 sets of 4
Weeks 4 and 5:  7 sets of 3

Superset with rest
B1) Neutral-Grip Incline Dummbbell Bench Press:  3 sets of 8
B2) Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldowns:  3 sets of 8

C) Reverse Woodchop:  3 sets of 12

It has been discovered that male Jamaican anole lizards begin and end each day with strength exercises.

The lizards perform push-ups, head bobs, and extensions of a colorful neck flap, or dewlap, to defend their territory.  “Anoles are highly visual species, so in that sense it is not surprising that they would use visual displays to mark territory,” said Terry J. Ord, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Davis and at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Ord studied four species of Jamaican forest lizard.  They found that females establish territories allowing access to food and other resources, while males stake out larger territories permitting access to females.  The males spend most of the day on tree trunks displaying head motions, push-ups, and dewlap extensions to warn other males to stay away from their territory.

This is not exactly a health article; however, I thought it was interesting and it relates to strength.

Reference:  University of California Davis

Research by the University of Oklahoma has shown that pre-workout stretching may not lower strength.

I have heard several times that pre-workout (static) stretching can reduce strength.  Some strength coaches suggest performing dynamic stretches prior to a workout and static stretching afterward or later in the day.

Dr. Joel T. Cramer, of the University of Oklahoma, wanted to determine if these effects would be seen after the short bouts of stretching that a typical exerciser or weekend athlete might perform.  To study this Dr. Cramer and colleagues measured calf strength in 13 moderately active men and women under four different conditions:  after no stretching, and before and after 2, 4, or 8 minutes of calf-muscle stretching.

The researchers found that stretching did not diminish the participants’ muscle strength compared with the no-stretching condition.  However, the stretching did temporarily improve the range of motion in the ankle joint.
Dr. Cramer notes that previous studies that did show that static stretching for long periods of time (10+ minutes) may decrease muscle strength for a short time.  He also notes that larger muscle may be more susceptible to reduced strength from pre-workout stretching.

I typically perform a few short static stretches prior to workouts, especially for my legs; however, these typically include 3 bouts of 20 seconds of stretching per leg.  I also warm-up with light weights before getting started with the planned weight workout.  It’s nice to know that this won’t sap my strength.

Reference:  MedLine Plus

Researchers at the University of Florida Research Foundation have developed a Temperature Management System (TMS) that blows cool, dry air underneath the shoulder pads of football players during rest periods.

Football players often practice and play in hot, humid weather, which poses a risk for heat-related illness.  The researchers developed the TMS to mitigate the dangers of heat-related illness.  The TMS cooling system works with specially designed shoulder pads that have grooves or air channels to direct cool, dry air over the player’s back and chest.  They have also design a TMS air bladder to retrofit current “off-the-shelf” shoulder pads.

During rest periods players can “hook up” to a small, portable air compressor to get a blast of cool air for a short period of time before they continue with the game or practice.

A study performed by the University of Florida in Gainesville, and funded by a grant from the National Football League Charities, examined the effectiveness of the cooling system in 15 athletes.

The participants wore shoulder pads, shorts, and helmets during two testing sessions – one with and one without cool air blown under their shoulder pads.  They performed three exercise cycles that consisted of jogging and sprinting on a treadmill in a room with a heat index of approximately 92 degrees Fahrenheit.  Each exercise cycle was separated by 10-minute rest periods.

Dr. Mary Beth Horodyski and colleagues found up to a 1 degree drop in core body temperature when the cool air was blown under the shoulder pads.  They also found that it helped keep heart rate lower as the duration of the exercise sessions increased.

This is an interesting study and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was added to shoulder pads of NFL and college athletes within the next few years.  Very cool stuff.

Reference:  MedLine Plus

This is the second part of my latest workout, and I will alternate it with Part 1.  Each workout will be completed 6 times, which should take about 3 to 4 weeks to get through.  After this phase, which is focused on fat loss, I plan to go on more of a muscle building phase.

The first giant set is done for 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps with no rest except for 60 seconds after each giant set.

A1) Front Squats
A2) Chin-Ups
A3) Step-Ups
A4) Dumbbell Push Press

The next giant set is only done twice with 20 reps and the same rest period as above.

A1) Squats (regular)
A2) Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns
A3) Step-Ups
A4) Dumbbell Shoulder Press

The workout is then finished with the following ab exercise.

C1) Swiss Ball Crunches, 2 sets of 10

This workout is also very difficult. I find Part 1 to be more challenging, and I think it’s because of the Bulgarian split squats. My nickname for those is “pain”. They really get my legs burning. However, this workout is only slightly less difficult than the first part.