Workout: Glider Plank Dumbbell Workout
Take some of the most portable, versatile and effective pieces of equipment – the glider disks – add upper body /core strength to the mix and you get this awesome challenging circuit. For this kind of […]
40 Best Workout Songs From 2015
Some of my favourite tunes from the past year. Great playlist to fuel your workouts in 2016. Enjoy!
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Food is Your Fuel. What To Eat Before And After Exercise.
This is one of the number one questions I get asked by both my personal training AND nutrition clients. Since there are several factors to take into account with regards to eating around exercise, allow me to shed some light on the topic..
The first thing to establish is what kind of exercise you are doing. Your requirements will be very different if you’re lifting weights for 45 minutes versus going on an hour run in the heat for example. The former will require you to eat a good combination of carbs and protein to power and repair your muscles. The latter will demand more quick digesting carbs as well as a lot of water for the high calorie and sweat expenditure.
Pre-Workout
The goal of pre-workout nutrition is to:
supply necessary energy to maximize performance during your workout.
help prevent a crash in blood sugar which can lead to hitting the proverbial “wall”, where you’ve just got nothing left yet you know you should be able to keep on going. You workout peeps know exactly what I am talking about! This can even lead to fainting. So in other words, properly fueling before your workout – very important!
In general I would suggest eating no closer than 1-2 hours before your workout. The more time you allow between eating and exercise, the larger the quantity of food you’ll be able to eat and still have time to digest. If you workout first thing in the morning you may be able to fuel off your food you are still digesting from the night before. But this does not work for everyone so make sure you figure out what works for you!
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Workout: Legs & Abs Superset Circuit
Working the lower body and core muscles together in the same workout is a great way to maximize your exercise time and return. Why? Because both of these muscle groups complement each other very well. You absolutely need to fire your abs when completing any proper squat, lunge or deadlift variation- our main lower body compound exercises. I find when I superset a leg circuit with an abdominal circuit it forces me to focus extra hard on keeping my core engaged not only on the ab portion, but especially on the lower body exercises, and as a result, getting a lot more return from my workout. Give this circuit style workout at try, at home or in the gym. It does call for a few sets of dumbbells (DBs), but if you only have 1 set, don’t worry just use it. Most of these exercises can even be done just using your body weight. I’ve conveniently attached links to video demos for certain exercises that may be slightly more complex.
If you have any further questions regarding this workout or any other workouts on my site please don’t hesitate to contact me! I always look forward to hearing form you. Also, follow me on Twitter or Facebook for more useful exercise/nutrition posts.
Ok enough talking.. now go get yourself moving and fit!
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GalleryFull Body Workout -> 2 Minute Super Sets
Alright kids.. Here we go with another Just Get Fit workout..
As usual, this one utilizes very little equipment and space, yet tackles the whole body (upper, lower, core, and cardio of course!).
Again, we’re working […]
The Importance Of Strength Training For Runners
Running has so many amazing health benefits – it fills us with high energy endorphins, keeps us lean and mean, makes our heart stronger, and it’s even meditative for some. That being said , runners have the highest incidence of chronic injuries out of any group of athletes, including contact sport athletes. Why? The constant repetitive strain that the running motion has on the body can and will take its tole over time and injury will eventually ensue; that is, unless one trains their body to be able handle this strain.
Yes, that means injury can be avoided! By strengthening the muscles, ligaments, tendons and bones that are needed for the repetitive motion of running, we are lubricating and protecting them from wear and tear. Muscle contractions stimulate not only the muscles themselves but also make your tendons and ligaments stronger, as well as increase bone density. So proper targeted resistance training can and will help keep you running longer, more efficiently, and at a faster pace, if that’s what you’re looking for. Win win! Track, hill and stair workouts are also excellent forms of training, especially if you’re looking to improve your time, from a performance standpoint.
Below I share some important points. These include resistance training, track workouts to improve speed, and cross training to be able to strengthen the body through ways that simply running cannot do alone. Wether you’re a recreational runner (yes overuse injuries can affect you eventually as well) or a running junkie, these fitness tips will help you on your way to a long lasting injury free running career.
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Best of 2015 Workout Music – Part1
Here are some of my favourite workout tunes from the first part of the new year! Listen, enjoy, and don’t forget to check out my other workout mixes on my soundcloud page. As always, […]
Workout: 3 Exercise / 20 Minute Circuit
Sometimes the simplest workouts are the toughest and most efficient. That’s exactly what you’re getting from this one. With just these 3 exercises, you are ultimately working your whole body from head to toe!
The key with this kind of workout is to choose 3 exercises that complement each other well and that target a bunch of different muscle groups synergistically. Also, it’s a good idea to match 2 challenging compound exercises (in this case squat press and half burpee) with 1 lower impact single joint exercise (tricep extension) which will help balance out the work load by giving your larger muscle groups a chance to recover slightly while you’re still working and keeping your heart rate up. The key is to make the workout challenging yet sustainable throughout.
All you need is 1 challenging dumbbell (10-20 lb) and a timer. Also, this workout is not long to complete – about 20 minutes. But it’s the most efficient 20 minutes you’ll get out of a workout. So in other words- nothing to lose, and no excuses!
Scroll over each exercise for videos of proper execution of movements.
Squat + Dumbbell Overhead Press
Overhead Tricep Extension
Half Burpee
Instructions:
Round 1 introduces the 3 exercises, for proper form. So take your time to complete each rep and use the break between exercises.
Rounds 2, 3, 4 and 5 are geared towards completing as many reps as you can in the 45 seconds with no breaks between exercises, culminating with the last and toughest round where all 3 exercises are performed back to back. This will definitely get your heart and all muscles pumping!
After each round take just enough break (max 30 sec) to grab a sip of water and towel off the sweat!
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Workout: 600 Rep Challenge
It’s time for another challenge. One of my favourite types of workouts are those with an end goal, that feeling of accomplishment after you’ve exerted that last breath to complete a challenge. An example of this is to give myself or my clients a certain rep goal, (in this case a whopping 600 reps) in order to feel like you’ve conquered the top of a mountain, when maybe you didn’t think you could at the beginning.
It’s super simple to set up this workout, yet it definitely seems very daunting at the beginning, but trust me, keep with it and you’ll be flying at the end of your workout you’ll be so high on endorphins. I would suggest doing this workout in a group or with a buddy to feed off each others energy and keep each other going and motivated throughout.
The key for this 600 rep challenge is to pick exercises that target large muscle groups in order to get the most strengthening affects as well as get your heart pumping and sweat flowing. It is up to you if you want to target mostly the upper, lower, or, if you’re like me, you want to make it a full body workout. As soon as you throw in lower body compound exercises, you will automatically get your heart rate up higher and quicker since that is where your largest muscles in your body are, leading to increased strength and cardio-vascular benefits. I of course love this incentive, so that’s why I almost always include a squat or lunge type exercise in there! You get the best bang for your buck.
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