Top 2 Exercise and Nutrition Tops

TOP 2 EXERCISE TIPS

* Invest in a Whole Body Workout: This means doing a five-exercise circuit (designed to work your upper body, lower body, and core) at least three times per week with a day of rest between workouts. Alternate between 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for each a double-leg (e.g. squat), push (e.g. push-up), single-leg (e.g. lunge), pull (e.g. row), and core (e.g. plank) exercise. Perform up to 4 rounds without rest for a killer 20-minute total body workout.

*  Harness the Power of Intervals: Interval training is scientifically proven to burn nine times more body fat than ordinary exercise and elevates metabolism for up to 48 hours following your workout. Perform cardio intervals on non-strength training days three times per week. Selecting your cardio exercise of choice, alternate between 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest and repeat this 30 second interval eight times for four total minutes followed by a one-minute rest. Repeat for up to 20 total minutes. This routine works best on a stationary bike (airdyne) or for body weight cardio exercise that you can do at home like running in place or jumping jacks.

TOP 2 DIET TIPS

* Eat Early and Often: Eat immediately upon waking and then every two to four hours to starve fat and feed muscle. By continuously fueling your furnace, and eating some animal protein (meat, eggs, cheese, etc.) at every feeding, you'll also keep your metabolism revved up throughout the day and prevent overeating.

 * Think Fiber First When Consuming Carbs: Eat an unlimited amount of fibrous, cruciferous green veggies to fill your belly both during and between meals. For optimal fat-burning, try to limit fruit and other carbohydrate consumption to within 1-2 hours post-workout when your body best tolerates starches and sugars.

Live by these 2 training and nutrition rules and you will have a body to be proud of... I guarantee it

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Lee

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Phoenix Personal Trainer show you How to do more push ups.

Hi Everyone

The beloved Push-up. It is probably the most popular exercise of all time. But being popular doesn’t necessarily mean being well liked! In fact, I think it is safe to say that the majority of people really HATE push-ups. More specifically, the push-up tends to be the undying nemesis for people who carry extra body weight and for most females who feel they do not have the upper strength to ever be able to do anything but “wuss-ups,” or modified push-ups on the knees.

 

 

What I want to do today is address everything that you need to know to perform push ups with the correct form and learn how to do more ASAP.  People typically only hate what they are not good at. So although you may not enjoy doing push ups at the moment I am sure you will be loving them once you have followed this program.  Well you may not love them but you'll at least be able to stomach them.

 

 

Benefits of Push-ups

 

Right next to pull-ups, a push-up is the greatest upper body exercise of all time. In fact, I believe push-ups to be one of the best total body exercises around.

 

Push-ups work primarily your chest, triceps, and front shoulders. However they also place a great demand on your core strength and stability. After all, your spinal stabilizers (transverse abdominis and spinal erectors) need to have the endurance to maintain that critical straight-line position throughout the duration of your push-ups for optimal safety and performance. In addition, push-ups engage your scapular muscles (shoulder blades) in a way that most pushing exercises do not, thus providing some much needed mid and upper back work that most trainees are missing out on. Furthermore, maintaining the proper push-up position requires that you tense and engage every muscle on the front side of your body from your feet to your front shoulders. Heck, if you squeeze your glutes (which you should as this helps protect your lower back), you even get your booty involved!

 

 

Finally, push-ups are the ultimate anywhere, anytime exercise that requires nothing but your body weight and space the size of your frame to perform.

 

How to Perform a Perfect Push-up

 

I am sure at some point everyone of you has tried a push up.  Whether on you own or maybe during gym at school.  Even as a trainer myself I must admit to not giving enough coaching when clients perform push ups.  So the goal today is to give the push up the respect it deserves and provide a step by step approach to getting you performing great pushups.

 

 

- Simultaneously tuck your elbows to your sides and pull your shoulders blades down and back: It’s critical to keep your elbows close to your ribcage while performing push-ups. Letting your elbows “sprawl” away from your torso puts your rotator cuff at a much greater risk for injury. In addition, since most of us are so upper trap dominant, we tend to shrug our shoulders during push-ups. This scapular elevation can lead to clicking and grinding of the shoulder (known as shoulder impingement syndrome). To avoid these pitfalls, visualize trying to hug your elbows to your ribcage while cracking a nut between your shoulder blades during all push-ups.

 

- Simultaneously suck in your gut and brace your abs: The push-up is a great core exercise that requires good muscular endurance for your deep spinal stabilizers. By pulling your navel to your spine and bracing your abs as if you we about to be kicked in the gut, you will best activate those key core muscles while performing push-ups.

 

- Simultaneously tense your thighs and squeeze your glutes: The straighter your legs during the push-up the more stable you will be. This is easily accomplished by tensing your thighs throughout the exercise. Furthermore, tense your butt cheeks- this helps relax overactive hip flexors, thus alleviating unnecessary strain on the lower back.

- Power breathing: In general, seek to focus on inhaling during the lowering portion of the push-up and then forcefully exhaling during the lifting portion of the push-up. By filling your belly with air during the lowering portion of the push-up your make it easier to stabilize your spine, meaning that your core remains locked in thus allowing for a smooth and seamless transition from the down position to the up position.

 

- Spread your fingers: Many people complain of wrist pain while they do push-ups. This usually stems from a combination of a lack of mobility at the wrist joint and a lack of flexibility of the forearm flexors and extensors. Plus, many people simply have weak wrists from a lack of weight-bearing exercises in their daily routine. Think about it- we do not do as much as we used to do with our hands and are rarely in a position where our wrists our supporting our entire body weight (besides when doing push-ups). One way to take pressure off of your wrists during push-ups is to focus on spreading your fingers as far apart as possible. This expands the surface area and thus dissipates some of the excess strain on the wrists. Furthermore, doing fist push-ups or push-ups with your hands on a dumbbell (or push-up handles) tends to significantly alleviate if not eliminate any unwanted wrist issues. This neutral grip allows you get all of the benefits of push-ups so that your wrists do not continue to be the biggest limiting factor for your push-up goals. In addition, the neutral grip also makes it easier to keep your helps tucked to your sides and shoulders down and back for optimal shoulder safety.

 

- Be flat as a diving board: Throughout the entire movement, the key is to maintain a straight line from the heels through the shoulders. You must not let your hips sag as this will put undue strain on your lower back in the form of hyperextension. Furthermore, you must avoid raising or “piking” your hips because this not only takes a way much needed core work, but also results in a rounding of the upper back that potentially results in unwanted shoulder issues (impingement, rotator cuff strains, etc.).

 

The Official Push-up Boot Camp Program

 

 

 Step#1- Find your current Push-up Total

 

Assuming a regular floor push-up position, perform as many reps as possible (AMRAP) with perfect form and technique in 60 seconds. Be sure to place a tennis ball or yoga brick on the floor- your chest must make contact with this object to count as a full rep. Record your rep total and then take 60 seconds of rest (no longer). Repeat by performing one more set of AMRAP in 60 seconds and then record your second set total. Add both your set one and set two totals and then divide by two. This is your current push-up total.

 

Step#2- Follow the custom push-up boot camp program based on your current push-up total:

 

The following program will systematically take you from level I to level IV six weeks at a time (not including a week of rest between levels). It is important to note that you must be following the appropriate fat loss training (total body strength circuits and cardio interval training) and nutrition plan to lose unwanted body fat that is weighing you down and literally halting your push-up totals in its tracks. In addition, be sure to change up the selected push-up variation at each and every strength workout to best prevent training plateaus. Here’s an example of how to switch things up for one week of training:

 

Day1- Close-Grip Push-up Variation (to emphasize the triceps and front shoulders to improve push-up lockout)

 

Day2- Loaded/Band-Resisted Push-up Variation (to improve strength and thus make it easier to perform body weight push-ups)

 

Day3- Stability Ball Push-up Variation- Hands Ball (to build trunk and scapular strength stability to prevent injury and maximize force output)

 

Remember, the better you get at every push-up variation the better you will get at regular push-ups. Once you achieve a current push-up total of 30 reps or more, you will notice the focus now will be on getting stronger by mastering the 1-arm push-up. Improving maximum strength automatically improves your muscular endurance, though it doesn’t work the same the other way around.

 

Please note that you should only follow this program if you have healthy shoulders. In addition, since you will be performing extra pushing movements, it is critical to add in some scapular retraction and depression work to prevent unwanted strength imbalances. Please note the addition of a certain amount of reps of Body Weight Prisoner or Y Squats following each set of push-ups for your “Extra Push-up Work” to achieve this end. The Body Weight Prisoner or Y Squat was selected because it simultaneously works your upper back and opens up your chest while working your lower body to boost metabolism. Plus, it’s an exercise you can do anywhere. Lastly, the “Extra Push-up Work” is best performed throughout the day to be fresh and allow for full recovery.

 

Level	Current Push-up Total	Push-up Protocol
Level I	0-1	-       Main Strength Workout: Perform max reps or a max hold for time for a different push-up variation at each of 3 strength workouts per week with ideally a day of rest between workouts   -       Extra Push-up Work: Perform 5 sets per day of negative push-ups with the following weekly progressions Monday through Friday (weekends off):   Week1- 5 sets of 2 reps of 5-second negatives Week2- 5 sets of 3 reps of 6-second negatives Week3- 5 sets of 4 reps of 7-second negatives Week4- 5 sets of 5 reps of 8-second negatives Week5- 5 sets of 5 reps of 9-second negatives Week6- 5 sets of 5 reps of 10-second negatives   -       Follow each set of push-ups with 10 reps of Body Weight Prisoner or Y Squats
Level II	2-5	-       Main Strength Workout: Perform max reps or a max hold for time for a different push-up variation at each of 3 strength workouts per week with ideally a day of rest between workouts   -       Extra Push-up Work: Perform 5 sets per day of regular floor push-ups with the following weekly progressions Monday through Friday (weekends off):   Week1- 5 sets of 1 rep Week2- 5 sets of 2 reps Week3- 5 sets of 3 reps Week4- 5 sets of 4 reps Week5- 5 sets of 5 reps Week6- 5 sets of 6 reps   -       Follow each set of push-ups with 20 reps of Body Weight Prisoner or Y Squats
Level III	6-12	-       Main Strength Workout: Perform max reps or a max hold for time for a different push-up variation at each of 3 strength workouts per week with ideally a day of rest between workouts   -       Extra Push-up Work: Perform 5 sets per day of regular floor push-ups with the following weekly progressions Monday through Friday (weekends off):   Week1- 5 sets of 5 reps Week2- 5 sets of 6 reps Week3- 5 sets of 7 reps Week4- 5 sets of 8 reps Week5- 5 sets of 9 reps Week6- 5 sets of 10 reps   -       Follow each set of push-ups with 30 reps of Body Weight Prisoner or Y Squats
Level IV	13-20	-       Main Strength Workout: Perform max reps or a max hold for time for a different push-up variation at each of 3 strength workouts per week with ideally a day of rest between workouts   -       Extra Push-up Work: Perform 5 sets per day of regular floor push-ups with the following weekly progressions Monday through Friday (weekends off):   Week1- 5 sets of 10 reps Week2- 5 sets of 12 reps Week3- 5 sets of 14 reps Week4- 5 sets of 16 reps Week5- 5 sets of 18 reps Week6- 5 sets of 20 reps   -       Follow each set of push-ups with 40 reps of Body Weight Prisoner or Y Squats
Level V	21-30	-       Main Strength Workout: Perform max reps or a max hold for time for a different push-up variation at each of 3 strength workouts per week with ideally a day of rest between workouts   -       Extra Push-up Work: Perform 5 sets per day of regular floor push-ups with the following weekly progressions Monday through Friday (weekends off):   Week1- 5 sets of 20 reps Week2- 5 sets of 22 reps Week3- 5 sets of 24 reps Week4- 5 sets of 26 reps Week5- 5 sets of 28 reps Week6- 5 sets of 30 reps   -       Follow each set of push-ups with 50 reps of Body Weight Prisoner or Y Squats
Level VI	31+	-       Main Strength Workout: Perform max reps or a max hold for time for a different push-up variation at each of 3 strength workouts per week with ideally a day of rest between workouts   -       Extra Push-up Work: Perform 5 sets per day of a 1-arm push-ups variation with the following weekly progressions Monday through Friday (weekends off). Progress from stage 1 to stage 3 in choosing the appropriate 1-arm push-up variation:   Week1- 5 sets of 1 rep Week2- 5 sets of 2 reps Week3- 5 sets of 3 reps Week4- 5 sets of 4 reps Week5- 5 sets of 5 reps Week6- 5 sets of 6 reps   Stage1- Modified 1-Arm Push-ups on Knees/Inclined   Stage2- Regular 1-Arm Push-ups 5-secondNegatives   Stage3- Regular 1-Arm Push-ups   -       Follow each set of push-ups with 60 reps of Body Weight Prisoner or Y Squats

 

Step#3- Re-Test Your Current Push-up Total

 

At the end of each 6-week training block, take 5 full days of rest before re-testing your new push-up total exactly as previously outlined in step one. Record your new push-up total and then take the rest of the week off for recovery before moving on to the next level of push-up boot camp.

 

Well, you now know everything you need to know to safely and effectively perform more push-ups than 99+% of the world. Remember, the leaner you are the better you will be at push-ups and the more push-ups you can do, the better you will look- time to master the push-up!

 

Lets get this done

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