I’m very excited about new site/resources I’m developing; it’s going to include 10 secrets that the fitness industry doesn’t want you to know. Please check back often for this launch announcement, it’s going to be great!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Cheat Day
If you’re on any kind of strict diet program you’ve probably experienced downfalls, setback or even quick. There are several very simple solutions to help with.
The first one I was exposed to was from Bill Phillips when I was competing in his first two EAS physic transformation contest, oh yea…I finished in the top 1% both times….anyway I digress. Bill had a basic technique, if you followed your workout for the day you would make a slash on your calendar for that specific day like this /. Then if you followed you nutrition program exactly, you would make slash in the opposite direction like this \. Then at the end of the month if you had a bunch of “X” you know you did well and were continuing with the progress.
The issue with this technique is it didn’t allow for slippage, you either did it (succeeded) or you didn’t (failed). You had to be extremely disciplined, focused and motivated to keep this up.
My idea was to allow a cheat day. For me, my two favorite types of meals were Saturday night and Sunday morning. So to squeeze these perceived two days into one I defined a day as 24 hours. My cheat day is from Saturday lunch to Sunday lunch. This gave me enough flexibility to have a sinfully delicious Saturday date night dinner and then be able to have a gargantuan Sunday brunch. This plan worked very well for me, until…
…until I met John Berardi. John’s an amazing trainer and nutritionist. John’s philosophy is the 90% rule. That is, if you maintain your nutrition program for 90% of the time, the other 10% won’t make the big of difference. John’s program works great! He has trained winners in all sports and figure competition. John’s routine and his Precision Nutrition recommendation are suited for any person, regardless of their physical activity, or lack of.
If you’re not incorporating some kind of a cheat or reward day, you’re potential setting yourself up for big failure. Take a look again at rewarding yourself for your hard work on a regular basis…you’re body and mind will thank!
To Your Perfect Health!
Gregg Swanson
Warrior Fitness Training
Extreme Fitness for Lifetime Fitness
Receive 3 free fitness e-books
The first one I was exposed to was from Bill Phillips when I was competing in his first two EAS physic transformation contest, oh yea…I finished in the top 1% both times….anyway I digress. Bill had a basic technique, if you followed your workout for the day you would make a slash on your calendar for that specific day like this /. Then if you followed you nutrition program exactly, you would make slash in the opposite direction like this \. Then at the end of the month if you had a bunch of “X” you know you did well and were continuing with the progress.
The issue with this technique is it didn’t allow for slippage, you either did it (succeeded) or you didn’t (failed). You had to be extremely disciplined, focused and motivated to keep this up.
My idea was to allow a cheat day. For me, my two favorite types of meals were Saturday night and Sunday morning. So to squeeze these perceived two days into one I defined a day as 24 hours. My cheat day is from Saturday lunch to Sunday lunch. This gave me enough flexibility to have a sinfully delicious Saturday date night dinner and then be able to have a gargantuan Sunday brunch. This plan worked very well for me, until…
…until I met John Berardi. John’s an amazing trainer and nutritionist. John’s philosophy is the 90% rule. That is, if you maintain your nutrition program for 90% of the time, the other 10% won’t make the big of difference. John’s program works great! He has trained winners in all sports and figure competition. John’s routine and his Precision Nutrition recommendation are suited for any person, regardless of their physical activity, or lack of.
If you’re not incorporating some kind of a cheat or reward day, you’re potential setting yourself up for big failure. Take a look again at rewarding yourself for your hard work on a regular basis…you’re body and mind will thank!
To Your Perfect Health!
Gregg Swanson
Warrior Fitness Training
Extreme Fitness for Lifetime Fitness
Receive 3 free fitness e-books
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Brutal Discreet Extreme Fitness
One of the things I like the most about extreme fitness is that, if done correctly, you can get your workout over with in less then an hour and many times between 30 and 45 minutes (not including stretching). For example with kettlebell training there is a great deal of variety. The number of exercises and variations are limited only by your creativity.
With a kettlebell or even two and a handful of drills you can get a hart pounding, fat burning, sweat dripping workout that will cover all of your strength, endurance and flexibility needs. It has been said that if you get bored training with kettlebells, you have no imagination, or you’re too exhausted to think.
Of course, the other side of the mixture principle is the minimalist approach of taking one or two exercises that cover the entire body and doing them at the exclusion of everything else. This kind of training can be great for extreme fitness enthusiasts of all ages and levels. This type of routine can often be seen as boring, but is will not only develop your toughness but your mental toughness as well.
A couple of good examples of this kind of bare bones thinking are the1000 rep snatch challenge, where you work up to completing 500 16kg kettlebell snatches per arm without stopping and the Department of Energy Man-Maker workout (developed by Bill Cullen, RKC) which alternates sets of high-rep swings or snatches with less intense periods of jogging. You can find detailed descriptions of both of these in the articles section HERE.
Some “core” exercise that can be done are; Swings, snatch and the Turkish Get-Up. The Turkish Get-Up, all though appear simply, will test every once of physical and mental discipline.
All in all kettlebells are just one of a myriad of tools you can utilize to experience extreme fitness for lifetime fitness.
To Your Extreme Health,
Gregg
Extreme Fitness for Lifetime Fitness
Receive 3 Complimentary Fitness e-books
With a kettlebell or even two and a handful of drills you can get a hart pounding, fat burning, sweat dripping workout that will cover all of your strength, endurance and flexibility needs. It has been said that if you get bored training with kettlebells, you have no imagination, or you’re too exhausted to think.
Of course, the other side of the mixture principle is the minimalist approach of taking one or two exercises that cover the entire body and doing them at the exclusion of everything else. This kind of training can be great for extreme fitness enthusiasts of all ages and levels. This type of routine can often be seen as boring, but is will not only develop your toughness but your mental toughness as well.
A couple of good examples of this kind of bare bones thinking are the1000 rep snatch challenge, where you work up to completing 500 16kg kettlebell snatches per arm without stopping and the Department of Energy Man-Maker workout (developed by Bill Cullen, RKC) which alternates sets of high-rep swings or snatches with less intense periods of jogging. You can find detailed descriptions of both of these in the articles section HERE.
Some “core” exercise that can be done are; Swings, snatch and the Turkish Get-Up. The Turkish Get-Up, all though appear simply, will test every once of physical and mental discipline.
All in all kettlebells are just one of a myriad of tools you can utilize to experience extreme fitness for lifetime fitness.
To Your Extreme Health,
Gregg
Extreme Fitness for Lifetime Fitness
Receive 3 Complimentary Fitness e-books
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Can Extreme Fitness Help You Live Longer?
We all know, or least have heard of the benefits of exercise. But for the vast majority of us exercising is a pain. Don’t believe me? Take a look around, as a nation we are the fattest we have ever been. But because of the time and energy commitment to exercise, we look for other methods, i.e. fad diets, pills, potions and sewing up our stomachs.
But for a slim (no pun intended) few of us, we see the benefits of exercise, but again we don’t like to expend any energy. The media and other “sources” have said it’s OK to perform “low impact” and “moderate” exercising, i.e. walking instead of running, using bands instead of weights or even balancing on a big ball.
If this worked we’d all be living longer and in better shape…this type philosophy does not work! Don’t get me wrong, any exercise is better than none, but come on, take a look around….we’re fat and dying early!
In a Harvard study published in The New York Times, April 19th 1995, the fates of 17,300 middle-aged men were followed for more than 20 years. The shocking results found that only vigorous, that is, extreme fitness, and not non-vigorous activities reduced their risk of dying during the study period.
The study goes on to document that men who reported doing at least 1,500 calories' worth of vigorous activity each week had a 25 percent lower death rate during the study period than those who expended less than 150 calories a week. To achieve the level of exercise associated with longevity, a person would have to do the equivalent of jogging for about 15 miles a week.
Basically, the more active the men were, the longer they were likely to live. This effect of extreme fitness was seen even in men who smoked or were overweight, although those with neither of these health-robbing factors did better. However, no consistent beneficial effect on longevity was found among the men who pursued only non-vigorous activities like golf, I wonder if speed golf counts as vigorous activity? Also, the study did not include women but I think you’re smart enough to draw your own conclusion here.
The study defined as vigorous any activity that raised the metabolic rate to six or more times the rate at rest. Such activities include brisk walking, jogging, singles tennis, lap-swimming, fast cycling and doing heavy chores at home or in the yard.
Now I’m not suggesting that you go out immediately and signup for the Iron Man. I am suggesting that you take a look in the mirror, at your scale and your hart rate monitor. If you’re not happy with the results then perhaps a phased in extreme fitness program would be beneficial. Some suggestions are:
*Kettlebell training for 2 hours a week
*Walking at four to five miles an hour for 45 minutes five times a week.
*TRX training for 3 hours a week
*Swimming laps for three hours a week.
*Cycling for one hour four times a week.
*Jogging at six to seven miles an hour for three hours a week.
*Rollerblading for two and a half hours a week.
Before you start any exercise program make sure you check with ou doctor, but remember, he/she may be in worse physical condition than you. In addition, cardiologists have long recommended that to reduce heart attack risks, one should exercise at least 20 minutes at a time three times a week at a heart rate of about 70 percent of one's maximum. A vigorous activity, like jogging or brisk walking, is often necessary to achieve this level. This advice had been based on physiological studies showing that "this level of activity was most efficient at building up cardiorespiratory fitness."
Once your level of cardiorespiratory fitness has been built up it’s time for extreme fitness for a longer, happier and healthier life.
Gregg Swanson
Extreme Fitness for Life Time Fitness
Receive 3 Complimentary Fitness e-books
But for a slim (no pun intended) few of us, we see the benefits of exercise, but again we don’t like to expend any energy. The media and other “sources” have said it’s OK to perform “low impact” and “moderate” exercising, i.e. walking instead of running, using bands instead of weights or even balancing on a big ball.
If this worked we’d all be living longer and in better shape…this type philosophy does not work! Don’t get me wrong, any exercise is better than none, but come on, take a look around….we’re fat and dying early!
In a Harvard study published in The New York Times, April 19th 1995, the fates of 17,300 middle-aged men were followed for more than 20 years. The shocking results found that only vigorous, that is, extreme fitness, and not non-vigorous activities reduced their risk of dying during the study period.
The study goes on to document that men who reported doing at least 1,500 calories' worth of vigorous activity each week had a 25 percent lower death rate during the study period than those who expended less than 150 calories a week. To achieve the level of exercise associated with longevity, a person would have to do the equivalent of jogging for about 15 miles a week.
Basically, the more active the men were, the longer they were likely to live. This effect of extreme fitness was seen even in men who smoked or were overweight, although those with neither of these health-robbing factors did better. However, no consistent beneficial effect on longevity was found among the men who pursued only non-vigorous activities like golf, I wonder if speed golf counts as vigorous activity? Also, the study did not include women but I think you’re smart enough to draw your own conclusion here.
The study defined as vigorous any activity that raised the metabolic rate to six or more times the rate at rest. Such activities include brisk walking, jogging, singles tennis, lap-swimming, fast cycling and doing heavy chores at home or in the yard.
Now I’m not suggesting that you go out immediately and signup for the Iron Man. I am suggesting that you take a look in the mirror, at your scale and your hart rate monitor. If you’re not happy with the results then perhaps a phased in extreme fitness program would be beneficial. Some suggestions are:
*Kettlebell training for 2 hours a week
*Walking at four to five miles an hour for 45 minutes five times a week.
*TRX training for 3 hours a week
*Swimming laps for three hours a week.
*Cycling for one hour four times a week.
*Jogging at six to seven miles an hour for three hours a week.
*Rollerblading for two and a half hours a week.
Before you start any exercise program make sure you check with ou doctor, but remember, he/she may be in worse physical condition than you. In addition, cardiologists have long recommended that to reduce heart attack risks, one should exercise at least 20 minutes at a time three times a week at a heart rate of about 70 percent of one's maximum. A vigorous activity, like jogging or brisk walking, is often necessary to achieve this level. This advice had been based on physiological studies showing that "this level of activity was most efficient at building up cardiorespiratory fitness."
Once your level of cardiorespiratory fitness has been built up it’s time for extreme fitness for a longer, happier and healthier life.
Gregg Swanson
Extreme Fitness for Life Time Fitness
Receive 3 Complimentary Fitness e-books
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