Category Motivation
Fitness And Health
Workouts are very important for the body to shape up, slim down, or strengthen. Regardless of what you do, habitual workouts and physical activities are the trail to a healthy and well fitted body. Daily workout for the body burns fats, calories, build up muscles, lowers cholesterol, relieves stress and unease and also lets us sleep peacefully.
If you’re doing a healthy nutrition plan, workouts can improve your body development. Whether you’re a beginner to fitness or have been working out for so long, it is also important to track your diet to get the best results for your body.
Studies have revealed that high-intensity workouts can help burn fat and calories. In addition, with the accumulation of strength-training workouts, these can help you not only boost your metabolic rate but also change your body’s work of art.
When you work out, you become aware of several things about your body. You respire heavier and faster, your heart beats more rapidly, your muscles in pain and you sweat a lot. These are all usual responses to workouts whether you work out habitually or only once in a while. These are good signs that your workout is great. It is not impossible that if you work out regularly, you will be in a very good shape in no time.
Working out is the marvelous treatment to keep our body in a good and healthy state. It’s important that if you want to live a healthy and satisfying life into old age, working out regularly and good exercise is truly what you need.
Training With A Tire
Tire training can add a new dimension to your strength and conditioning program regardless of what sports you play or your level of athletic ability. When people hear me speak about adding tire training into a strength program they often have the mistaken impression that tires are only used by athletes who compete in strongman contest.
The strength and aerobic benefits of tire training can enhance your performance in all sports from gymnastics to football. Tire training is one of the best total body strength and conditioning workouts that a person can do. You use your total body when you flip the tire, and by varying the distance you flip the tire and time you flip the tire you can get a great aerobic workout.
Where Do You Get A Large Tire?
The best place to go to find a large tire is at a tire dealership that deals in farm tires or a tire dealership that deals in earth moving equipment tires. Normally these places will be more than happy to give you the used tires. Even in cities there is usually a dealership that works with earth moving equipment. I found my large 800-pound tire discarded as trash in a field about an hour from my home.
All I had to do was borrow a friend’s pickup truck and have my father-in-law help me roll it up a ramp into the truck bed. Finding a tire in the weight you want may take a few phone calls and maybe a little travel, but it will be worth it. If you can get the tire’s make and model number, the tire store or manufacture can give you the weight of the tire new. You can deduct weight based on the ware of the tire and get a pretty good estimate of your tire’s weight.
What Weight Of Tire Should I Get?
If you are involved in strength contest get a starting tire of 650 pounds or more because most of the tires used are in the 700-800 pound range. For those who just want the tire for fitness and a good total body work out you may want to get a tire in the 200-300 pound range.
How Do You Flip The Tire?
When you flip the tire it is best to start with the tire flat on the ground. Place your fingers and hands as far under the tire as you can in this position and keep your hands about shoulder width apart. Squat down and then while pulling the tire up with your arms and back explode out of the bottom position. As the tire comes up you should have enough momentum that you can change your hands from a pulling to a pushing position and push the tire all the way over. Immediately after the tire is pushed over and flat start the process again.
In the beginning you may have to use your knee to pop the tire up high enough so that you can change hand positions to a pushing motion. Try to get away from using your knee as soon as possible to avoid possible leg injury when you have one leg planted on the ground and one in the air. You can flip the tire on any type of surface from concrete to grass to sand.
Sample Programs
I would incorporate tire training into your work out one or two days a week. You can work on strength and speed one work, and you can focus on conditioning and strength the next workout.
Workout #1
Flip the tire over a 70-meter course for time. Have someone time you on each set and keep track of your times. As you progress you should be able to get quicker as you continue to train. 3-4 sets.
Workout #2
Set up a 70-meter course. Flip the tire up and down the course as many times as you can in a 90-second or 2-minute period of time. Keep track of the number of flips you achieve each set. As your endurance increases you should be able to flip the tire more times in the time limit. If the 2 minutes gets to be too easy increase the time that you flip the tire in 30-second increments. 3-4 sets.
Workout #3
Make the tire flip part of a medley of events. Pull the sled for 70 meters and then flip the tire back for 70 meters. Another variation would be to pick up and carry sand bags 70 meters and load the sandbags into the sled. Pull the sled back 70 meters and then flip the tire back 70 meters. Start with 2 sandbags and work up to 3-5.
With these programs feel free to increase or decrease the distance of the events or the weights. The main thing is to get out and train using these alternative methods to help take you to the next level of athletic achievement.
Your friend in strength,
Dave
Stay Fueled
How do you fuel your fitness activities? Do you need a special diet? Not likely. How much you eat really depends on your goals. To properly fuel your body for fitness, there are four main things to be aware of.
Hydrate
When you start breathing heavier, you lose water. If you’re sweating, you’re losing even more. Make sure you drink 8 to 16 ounces of fluid (preferably water) before, during, and after exercise. The longer you go, the more fluid you need. If you’re going longer than 45 to 60 minutes of high intensity endurance exercise, drink a sports drink along the way.
Balance
Get a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats at every meal. Don’t just eat all protein or all carbs. All three nutrients are essential for fueling and recovering from activity.
Eat Small, Eat Often
Eat small meals and frequent snacks throughout the day. Your body doesn’t want food all at once, it wants it when the demand is high. Try to meet your body’s demand of energy by supplying it with food when you need it.
Fuel Up Before, Refill After!
Eat before and after exercise (and during if it’s longer than 60 minutes). Ideally, it’s best to eat something close to the time you exercise—a few minutes up to an hour before. Nothing fancy—a banana, yogurt, or handful of nuts is great. Have something to eat within 30 minutes, but no longer than one hour after exercise. Ideally, a combo of carbs, protein, and fluid is best. My favorite? Chocolate mil and whey protein isolate.
Warrior
3 Reasons To Unplug At The Gym
These days a trip to the gym involves a wealth of modern technology. You’re running on the treadmill but you’re also watching ESPN headlines on the TV, listening to your ipod shuffle, texting friends on your cell, tweeting your location, and occasionally checking your email on your blackberry. Can you remember a time when it was just you and your thoughts?
All this technology in the gym isn’t always a bad thing. Making an appointment to watch the game from the treadmill rather than the couch is definitely a great choice. But, stop and consider these points before your next tech-heavy workout – you may want to do a little unplugging! Remember that you are in the gym to workout!!! Not play on the phone!!
Distracting yourself from yourself… When we’re focused on the TV or our phones we’re taking attention away from ourselves. Our bodies give us feedback when we’re working out, allowing us to feel when we should crank up the speed or add more weight (and when we should do the opposite). When we’re not paying as close attention to ourselves we can lose our motivation to push ourselves harder and harder. Technology might make the time fly by faster, but remember to direct the focus back to yourself occasionally so you’re getting as much out of your workout as you want. If you’re watching TV, try using the commercials to refocus on your body and up the intensity
Injury to yourself or your gear… We’ve all seen and heard the guy who drops his phone/ipod on the treadmill, only to have it loudly shoot across the room. When you throw expensive technology into an intense cardio session, the result can be disastrous for your gear. More importantly, all the reaching, grabbing, and distraction associated with our devices can lead to injury to yourself. If you’re going to use your gadgets during cardio, make sure to get yourself fully settled (choose a playlist, select a channel, arrange everything in easy to reach places, etc) before you crank up the speed to minimize physical demands later on. Be careful with the volume setting on your MP3 player too – for the sake of your eardrums you should never be listening at the highest setting. Also, make sure you’re still checking yourself out in the mirror as much as possible. Focusing on your form can help you to avoid the awkward motions that can lead to serious injury.
Your brain needs a break… In today’s world, most of us are engaged with technology in some form for most of our waking hours. It’s a good idea to give your brain a break from the constant demands of the phone and email. The gym is the perfect place to take a brief respite from your technology. Chances are nothing will be so urgent that it necessitates your immediate attention during your hour at the gym. Use the gym as a vacation from constant connections and get the most out of those endorphins. Your eyes will also appreciate a vacation from all of the screens they stare at!
Warrior
Pullups/Chinups
Watch “Seated Barbell Reverse Shoulder Press with Wide Grip” on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skhvIw6xRs4&feature=youtube_gdata_player… I started doing Reverse Grip Shoulder Presses years ago after seeing Charles Glass doing them. I still do em today but with a grip a little more than shoulder width apart. This video will take you step by step. It is a whole new feeling in the front, side and rear deltoid area you can perform this movement either on a Smith Machine or with a free barbell which is what I prefer since I do not care for machines but it’s just how I feel… Start by removing all of the weight from the bar, twist it to remove it from the supports and set it to a height around the height of your upper chest. Next slide weight bench length ways into the smith machine and add a suitable amount of weight to the bar. Sit down on the end of the weight bench facing the bar. Position your legs either side of the with your feet well planted for stability. Make sure that you are positioned so that the bar will come down right in front of your face. Reach up to grip the bar with your arm in a L-shape position with your palms facing upwards. Press the bar slightly, twist it and remove it from the support brackets. Inhale as you lower the bar down in a slow, controlled manner keeping your back straight until the bar is in front of your face. Do not allow your shoulders to hit a resting point. Exhale as you press the bar back into the starting position keeping your back straight not allowing your lower back to arch. Do not allow your arms to fully lockout before starting the next rep. I press weight up short of lockout and as I lower weight I stop to the point where I still have tension on my muscles. Hope you can utilize this fantastic movement in your shoulder routine.
Warrior
Dumbbell Bicep Curl
Proper placement of the elbow during the dumbbell bicep curl!
Notice the elbow placement in the side by side comparison pictures! The elbow placement on the left side picture is optimal for keeping 100% tension on the bicep muscle (Directly on/above the hip bone – proper/ideal form for maximum growth) Notice the elbow placement on the right side picture, as the weight is curled up, the elbow has moved 8-10 inches in front of the hip bone (This is a common mistake a lot ppl make when using a dumbbell or weight that is to heavy for the bicep muscle to handle, so as it is curled up, instead of the elbow remaining on/above the hip bone where it should be, the front shoulder muscle brings the elbow forward to assist with the lift taking a lot of the tension off the bicep)
Remember – Correct form and proper function are everything when strength/weight training!
Dave
Passion
I am passionate about my training! I take it extremely seriously and cut no corners or show my body no mercy. I train hard, eat like a Viking, take my supplements and vitamins and always get my rest!
Dave
Strength and Nutrition 