Fast and Furious Fitness

Dear Reader,

Yes, I know it’s been quite a while since the last update, and I apologize. Been extremely busy with a lot of things, dealing with an annoying Internet connection (HA!) and similar stuff. I’ve been hitting my workouts hard as usual, but just haven’t been able to post as much as I’d like to have. . .

Anyway, it’s time to pick up where we left off - and, today, I’m going to cove how a simple change in one of my favorite exercises the “extended arm pushup” makes all the difference as to how the exercise hits your body.

Loyal readers of this blog have noticed that I’m a strong advocate of a) making changes to your exercise routine every now and then and b) “revisiting” an exercise i.e. to perfect execution, form, speed, all of which control how the exercise impacts your body.

And b) brings us to today’s tip: - Instead of looking ahead as I mention on the information page, look towards the floor while performing this pushup. This might sound strange, as I’ve stressed the importance of looking ahead and keeping the neck straight while doing pushups - but remember, we’re taxing the body differently here. The regular pushup, while working the whole body as a whole, taxes the arms, chest and upper/mid back far more than the lower back, which simply servers as a “stabilizing” agent during the process. However, the extended arm pushup is specifically aimed at the lower back, and thus one should think of the arms and shoulders as stabilizing agents, while most of the “lifting” work should be done by the lower back.

You’ll notice that you’ll tend to use the upper back a lot more when looking ahead - and that you bring the lower back into play when your looking “down” while executing this particular pushup. Given that the part of your body that goes “up” during this pushups is the hips and lower back (as compared to the chest and upper back during the regular pushup), it only makes sense to concentrate on those muscles more during this movement.

You’ll see that performing the exercise this way REALLY brings out the muscles in the lower back, and mid-lower back to a degree. Try it and see - it’ll work your back in an entirely different manner than if you look ahead while doing it!

You’ll also find that your “digging in” harder with your toes to maintain your balance - this is because your lower back will be doing most of the “lifting”, and will naturally demand some assistance from the hip/thigh muscles as well to maintain the correct position. Net result - a super overall body workout!

And of course, it goes without saying that this is a GREAT exercise - provided it’s done in good form, which goes without saying for any exercise, really.

That’s it for now - and it’s definitely the end of the “hiatus” as far as posting is concerned. Do write in with your comments, and let me know how your training has been going - and as always - get fit - FAST!

All for now,

Rahul

All,

Even the simplest of exercises can be used to give you a superior workout, and this is a truism that cannot be emphasized enough.

These days, we see many people going in for the “latest” treadmills, machines, or just about any gizmo that is the “in thing” to use to get in shape. Many of these folks spend big bucks on these machines, and that is fine - if that is what you want to do, no problems at all from my end. Some folks prefer to go the gym to spend hours on the machines there - and that is fine by me as well. Hey, you have the right to workout as you choose to, right? But, what I am saying here (and what I prefer personally) is to get fit - fast - and with a minimum of fuss/expense, and even the simplest of exercises will aid to that end.

Here are a few “simple” ones that may leave you gasping for breath: -

1. Touching your toes - Yeah, I said that. Believe it or not, this simple routine is tough for many people (slim, overweight, or even those that may be quite “fit” in some regards), due to lack of flexibility in the hips/hamstrings. Do this exercise the strict way i.e. legs straight as a road throughout the movement (no bending of the legs allowed here!!) - and touch your fingers to the floor. Back up again, and make sure you get a full stretch throughout your body while going back up. And, that’s one rep. Go for about 25 reps non-stop.

Breathing is exhale down, inhale up. And if THAT is too easy for you, try touching your palms to the floor while maintaining perfect form - and then talk to me.

2. The “chair” exercise - imagine you were sitting in a straight backed chair with your arms folded across your chest. Only, there’s no chair here, so you get to make the position - exactly the same position - and hold for time. Shoot for about 20 seconds to start with, and work up to 2 or 3 minutes.

If this gets to be easy (I doubt it though), stretch your arms out to the side and hold something while your maintaining that position. Trust me now, and question me later, this one will FRY your entire core and upper back if done correctly!

3. The “front bridge”. Concentrate on your legs and back of your neck while holding the position, as well as your hamstrings. Do this AFTER the back bridge, and shoot for about 2 minutes or so to start with. To make this one tougher, bring your arms behind you (straight behind you) so that your palms are facing the ceiling at an angle. Again, trust me - this minor detail makes the exercise that much tougher to perform correctly!

(Side note: - that’s paradoxical, but true - the front bridge taxes the back of your neck more, while the back bridge taxes the front portion of the neck more)

Those are just three exercises - and there are plenty more as well. “Simple exercises” - can be done by themselves, or can be incorporated into your regular routine for extra work (try any of these in between the “tough” ones i.e. let’s say Sumos followed by the “chair” - WHAM!). Some of them work great for a warm up as well (I generally don’t do the static holds for a warm up), so feel free to mix things up, and work these exercises as you see fit to.

Ok, thats it for today. As always, get fit -FAST!

Rahul

And, I should add “why” on to the end of that question. . .

It’s an often asked question, and a pretty good one, so thats what I’m going to cover today. And without further ado, here’s my answer (or answers, as it were): Yes. Maybe. . . maybe not. No. And, believe it or not, all those are correct answers to this particular question.

First off, let me give you an example from my own life. A few months back, I used to sprint stairs daily while going to work. These were stairs in the subway station - where I’m at, most of the subway runs ABOVE ground, at a height of approximately a three to four story building in most parts, and two stories in the others. A section of it does run underground, so that makes for plenty of stairs, and some interesting workouts if one chooses to use whats “readily available”. I used to sprint these stairs daily, and it became pretty easy to do after a while. Anyway, that’s a different story and one I’ll cover at a later date.

I haven’t been sprinting these stairs for a while now (my “work” life has changed drastically, perhaps for the better, and it does not involve subways en route), but tried doing so yesterday, when I needed to use the subway. And, the results were interesting - I was more “out of breath” than I used to be earlier while doing it, but on the other hand, my legs weren’t aching at all from the sprint.

So, what to make of it? Does my squatting, lunging and miscallaneous leg routine actually transfer over into better performance for sprints?

Yes, and no. To get better at something, one has to do that “something”. So if you want to get better at squats, then squat. If you want to lop off a few seconds off your sprint, then sprint. It’s really that simple.

But, whats important (and this applies to anything) is to build a SOLID BASE. Think of it as a skyscraper - once you build that base, you can literally go as high as you want, without fear of the whole building collapsing. And that theory applies to training as well. Squats of any form build strong, solid legs - and the muscle built therein can be utilized whether one is trying to squat a weight, play soccer, or run up stairs. Pushups strengthen the tendons all over the upper body, and the strength developed thus helps in all activities, from carrying groceries up stairs to wrestling on a mat.

So in that regard, YES, my training DID help while sprinting - in that I didn’t tear a muscle, didn’t strain something in my groins/hamstrings, had the required amount of strength in the muscle to perform the sprint, etc etc.

Now, did it help in the actual “speed” part of the exercise? No, and that is because I haven’t been sprinting as of late. And to get better at anything, end of the day, one has to do that “something”. It bears repeating, as many people tend to skip past this important principle.

So, build a strong base - that will help you in various activities. Once you build that base, improvement in the other activities is only a matter of time - given regular practice and execution of that other activity.

And that, my friends, is today’s post. As always, write in with your thoughts!

Get fit - FAST!

Rahul

Okay, I’ve been talking a lot as of late about changing things up, making the routine a bit longer, perhaps a bit shorter. . . Stuff like that. But, today’s post is about a slight change in my eating routine, rather than a training routine - which has worked GREAT for me!

Some of you loyal readers (you know who you are ) might recall that I had posted something along the lines of “when to train” a while back. In that post, I had said that I personally train after breakfast (a simple enough breakfast of milk and bananas), but that there’s nothing wrong with training on an empty stomach if that works better for you, or the other way around for that matter (so long as there is some gap between the time of eating, and the exercises themselves).

So, back then, it was winter here and I used to eat breakfast after my green tea (look for a post on that as well sometime in the near future!) - and THEN workout after a while. Continued this routine until recently but I’ve been feeling a bit “heavy” in the stomach (while working out) as of late, which in turn makes the exercises a bit harder to go through. I still get through them just fine, but it makes progress that little bit harder - this applies more to bodyweight exercises than weight training BTW, since almost all the bodyweight exercises I train with recruit the core as well.

I think what it is that the breakfast is “sitting” in my stomach these days - not sure why that is, but perhaps it’s the fact that I work (at my computer) for a couple of hours after breakfast without doing much physical activity. Maybe it’s the fact that the heat just gets worse and worse as the day wears on, so the mornings are the best time to train (or late nights, for those of you that enjoy that). Or maybe it’s just that the same amount of food seems to go further in the summertime!

Theories apart, I figured I’d change things up a bit - so today I worked out before breakfast. And, it worked like a charm. I’m back to feeling perfectly normal while working out, and can hit the exercises with vigor - without feeling too full or bloated. And, consequently improve further.

Another advantage of training before breakfast is that it’s obviously a lot earlier in the day, and the heat levels are lower at that time. Which always helps, especially when going through a strenous workout.

So, even the most minor of things can make a difference to your routine. And end of the day - it all depends on how you feel training a certain way, and how your body reacts to it.

That’s it for today’s post - be back again soon!

Rahul

Hi,

The concept of “partial reps” is not a new one, and many have been implementing it in their training routines. I generally prefer not to do anything “partially” in my routine, but sometimes, I do incorporate this method into my training, and I’ll explain the why’s and how’s on that one today.

Partial reps are pretty much what the name signifies i.e. a repetition does “partially” i.e. the full range of the exercise is not completed. So for a partial rep pull up, it might mean that one doesn’t go all the way up - or, doesn’t come all the way down on the negative portion of the movement. For a pushup, it might mean not touching your chest completely to the ground. In short, any exercise that isn’t performed in full “range”.

I don’t generally encourage this in one’s training, as overuse (and believe me you, it’s VERY easy to overdose on partial reps) of this principle results in a lack of attention to proper form. It becomes too easy to focus on 10 pull ups, for instance, rather than focusing on doing 10 PROPER pull ups, with GOOD FORM. So, I generally try and not do these - but sometimes, it’s a good idea to do partial reps, if just to see “how far one can go”.

I did these today with pull ups - what I did was 5 regular pull ups in good form, and then once I started to tire, I did 2 “half pull ups” i.e. not going all the way up. I still went all the way back down (the more important part of the movement IMO, contrary to what many folks think), but not all the way back up on the partial reps. And funny as it may sound, I ended up getting a “full” rep at the end of the partial reps - so the partial reps probably aided in recovery as well!!

I did this with the Sumo squat as well - I didn’t squat all the way down after my usual number of “full repetitions”. Did that for a couple of half-reps, then it was back to the full reps. Worked pretty well for me, something different (and more taxing in terms of overall work done) at any rate.

I never compromise on FORM though - even if I’m doing a partial rep pull up, I won’t “swing” back and forth and pull myself up via motion - I’ll concentrate purely on the muscles being worked (in the case of pull ups, thats primarily back and grip, in that order), and stop when I can’t pull up any higher. Then, I’ll go back down, and repeat - and THEN I’ll go for a full rep, which the partial rep seems to aid me in doing.

This principle has also helped me to shoot past the “I can only get so many reps in a set” deal when it comes to many exercises, including pull ups and tablemaker pushups. Like I said, don’t overdo it - but shooting for partial reps once in a while is, in my opinion, a good idea.

Try it in your own training - and let us all know how it goes!!

As always, get fit - FAST!

Rahul

So, today was another “long” workout. Not really long by the typical gym trainee standards - but, it lasted about an hour, and I was hammered at the end of it all. Sweat was dripping off me, and the summer’s just beginning here in all honesty. Each body part was worked throughly, and to the max.

And, I feel GREAT - not worn down or exhausted.

I worked every thing today - as I usually do. What made it better today is that I slowed it down just that extra bit, to enable me to focus and recover on form/execution of ALL the exercises.

And while doing so, I discovered another trick to the Sumo Squat. Without further do, here it is: - While coming down on the squat, really “bang” your foot down i.e. “stomp” while bringing your leg back from the extended “up” position. You’ll find this gives you a better workout in terms of breathing, and also in terms of muscle being worked.

Slowing it down just a little bit also gave me an opportunity to focus on something else which is of paramount importance - but, I’ll let you figure that one out. (Not so subtle) hint: It involves O2.

So, all in all, nothing really new - but, yet another great workout for the books. Which is going to be followed by another one.

And that, dear reader, is exactly how it should be. String together one great workout after the other, and you’ll be holding the keys to - and entering - a whole different world altogether.

I’ll end on that note. Oh, and I’ve been recieving a ton of comments (or should I say pingbacks) from sites - which I really do appreciate - but what is happening is that the comments don’t contain anything meaningful - its more like “xysayzkf http://sss.xxysa.” or “rock stars here - http:// . . . “. Please, by all means, visit the blog, and leave comments - but make sure they at least look like a human being wrote it.

Okay, enough for now. As always - get fit - FAST!

Rahul

All,

I’ve often said (and imply in pretty much every post of mine) that training the largest muscle groups of the body intensely produces the best results, both in terms of fitness and in terms of “muscle growth” (for those that are interested in that aspect).

The legs are obviously then the part that need to be worked the most - but the muscle group(s) that comes a close second is the back. I’ve been neglecting the back a bit during my recent workouts (and blog posts to be honest), and decided to fix that today. Now, don’t get me wrong - I’ve been focusing on squats and pushups mostly (along with bridging) and those are the cornerstone of any bodyweight program - but, pull ups and chin ups are important to train as well, in fact so important that you might devote an entire workout (or the majority of an entire workout) to them per week.

Before I get into what my routine comprised of today (and it was fairly simple to be honest), I’ll mention some important reasons why the back muscles are important to train: -

- The “largest muscle group” theory as mentioned above.
- The back is responsible for posture. Train the back well, and you’ll stand erect, walk tall and “proud”, and will have that “military bearing” which commands respect.
- The back is used in virtually ALL compound exercises - strengthen the back, and you simaltaneously strengthen the entire upper body, and abdominal region.
- Stretch the back, and you’ll automatically give the impression of having a wider and “deeper” chest - which in turn lends itself to better performance on the chest exercises you do.
- A strong lower back automatically means a stronger core - and, I don’t think I need to mention the importance (both physcially and aesthitically) of that one to anybody. . .;)

So - on to the workout - and as I said it was pretty simple. I added in pull ups and chin ups during my squatting routine, so essentially I broke up my routine as such: Squats, jumper squats, chin ups, breathing exercises, Sumo squats, pull ups, chin ups, jumping lunges, chin ups, and finally jumping lunges, followed by some mountain climbers. Then my pushup routine, and finally the back/front bridge.

Seems like a longer workout than usual, but I actually finished BEFORE time (guess why?). . . And, I performed better on the chin ups than the pull ups. Again, I’ll let you guess why (hint - the reason is there in the previous blog posts).

And that, my friend, is a sunny and way too warm Wednesday morning here.

Get fit - FAST!

Rahul