Turkey Tummy

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

This is truly the best Holiday of the year. You get off during the work week, you get to watch and play football, you get to eat copious amounts of food - especially stuffing and turkey, and you get to see all of your friends and family. So here is what we are going to do. Going into this lovely holiday dinner, let's turn on the engines and crush our abs. Not only will this help give you unbelievably sound posture while sitting down for 4 hours to eat, but it will give you that extra drive to eat as much as you want tonight! Let's get to it!

** Perform the following as shown. **

1. Sit-ups - 3 sets (10, 10, 10)  all the way down and all the way up

2. V-ups - 3 sets (10, 10, 10)

3. Let Lifts to Thrust - 4 sets (8, 8, 8, 8)

4. Reversing T Planks - 3 sets (12, 12, 12)

5. Leg Thrusts - 3 sets (12, 12, 12) - Start in push-up position and jump legs in and back

6. Alligator Kicks - 3 sets (30 seconds each)

7. Planks - 3 sets (30 seconds each)

8. Supermans - 3 sets (10, 10, 10) Lay on your stomach and raise legs and arms

9. Bicycle Kicks - 3 sets (20, 20, 20)

10. Crunches - 3 sets (each till failure) If you can get more than 15 you did not work as hard

Have Fun!

Push-up Pull-up

Ok, so I know I say this many times but this is without a doubt my favorite workout of all time. Here is why:

1. You can do a repetitive amount of pull-ups and push-ups - the two coolest exercises out there
2. You will be totally pumped at the end
3. You will be dripping sweat
4. It rules

In all seriousness, this workout will give any level a run for your money. I will show you how to augment it below but the focus should be on trying your best through-out the workout. You can always go down or up a level midway so adjust accordingly. An important part of this workout is to switch up your grips for both exercises. Not only will this target additional muscle groups but it will keep you interested!

** You will be performing 20 exercise of push-ups and pull-ups. Each set aim for 15 - 20 push-ups and 6 - 10 pull-ups. Use the below options to tailor your workout to your level. **

Level 1: Moderate
A. Push-ups - Do on your knees or against a wall. When you can no longer do a push-up, hold a plank for        the seconds matching your remaining reps.
B. Pull-ups - Use a lat pull down machine. When you can no longer do reps, hold the bar in the down                position for the seconds matching your remaining reps.

Level 2: Difficult
A. Push-ups - Do straight push-ups. Get 15 - 20 reps each time. Rest in the up position if you need to muscle out those last few.
B. Pull-ups - Straight pull-ups. When you can no longer do reps, hang from the pull-up bar until failure.

Level 3: Most Difficult
You will do 20 sets of Burpees to pull-ups. This will absolutely shred you. Do 10 reps each set for 200 total. If you can complete this, I will be impressed.

Remember to choose an appropriate workout. If you choose one level this time - aspire to hit the next level in the near future.

Have Fun!

Jonicus

Time to bring back an old favorite! Learned this one a while ago from an article about the TV show Sparticus. Of course, I did not find that workout to be challenging enough so I have made some updates of my own. This is a fat shredding and muscle building workout. I promise you that if you give this workout your all and fight through the pain for 45 minutes, you will emerge a victorious warrior. And that rules.

** Perform each exercise for 1 minute. Rest 15 seconds before moving onto the next exercise. Repeat the group of 10 exercises 3 times. Rest for 2 minutes before starting again. For the exercises requiring weight, choose a weight that you can do approximately 12 - 15 reps with. **

1. Goblet squats
2. Bent over row to dead lift
3. Billy kicks (substitute mountain climbers from side to side)
4. Curl to shoulder press
5. Plank to push-up
6. Jump Rope
7. Burpee
8. Overhead tricep extension
9. Iron cross (dumbbell raises in the front with underhand grip)
10. Shoulder swings (switch arms half way through the minute)

Have Fun!

Pyramids!

Today we are going to have some fun with pyramids. Pyramids are a great way to challenge your muscles and respiratory system by mixing weight and reps. The below pyramids will give you a full body workout. Each of the exercises below will come with 2 choices. Choose based on your physical fitness level. If you need to use the less challenging method this time around, that will just challenge you to come back next time and step it up.

** Perform each exercise as a pyramid. The first exercise will go from 1 - 10 - 1 and the second exercise will go from 10 - 1 - 10. That means a total of  100 reps for the first line and 109 reps for the second. Rest when you need to **

1A. Push-ups (alternate: use knees or wall)
1B. Sit-ups (alternate: crunches)

2A. Jump squats (alternate: body squats, wall sits)
2B. Scissor Kicks (alternate: leg lifts)

3A. Bent over rows (choose appropriate weight)
3B. Lunges (Straight leg kicks)

Have fun!

2 is better than 1

Everyone knows that - in most cases - 2 is better than 1! Think about it, 2 more miles, 2 more pull-ups, 2 more celebration beers! Today, to honor this old time saying, we are going about everything double. But not exactly what you may think. There are different ways to target your muscles. Changing weight, speed and control ultimately affects your workout and end goal. At GoLife, we strive to be well round fitness champions and that is why, we are going to work our muscles both ways, and not just one. See, doesn't 2 sound better than 1?

** Perform each exercise below twice in a superset formation. Rest for 30 seconds between A and B and then rest for 1 minute before moving to the next exercise. When you are done, repeat the whole thing! **

1A. Jog 5 - 100 meter laps

1B. Sprint 5 - 100 meter laps

2A. Goblet Squats - 2 sets of 10 (hold a weight 20 - 30 lbs)

2B. Jump squats - 2 sets of 10 

3A. Wall Push-ups - 10 reps

3B. Decline Push-ups - 8 reps

4A. Jumping Jacks - 2 sets of 30

4B. Lunge Jumps - 2 sets of 20 

5A. Leg Lifts - 30

5B. Plank to push-up - 10

6A. Chair dips - 2 sets of 20

6B. Get-ups - 2 sets of 10 (lay down and get back up)

Have Fun!

Relay Drills

We are getting right back into the cardio and legs with this one. No rest for the strong! For this workout you will need to be outside. You will also need to find a 50 meter stretch of flat land. I would recommend you find a grass area. We are going to be doing some awesome drills. These drills will help you become faster, more agile, and can even help increase coordination. Take them slow at first until you are comfortable with the movements. And don't worry, tomorrow is a rest day and Monday we will hit the upper body. 

** Perform the following drills over 50 meters and complete 4 times before moving on (up, back, up, back).  **

1. Butt Kickers - short movements, stretch the quads

2. High Knees - short movements, stretch the hips

3. Franken Kicks - Hold hands out straight and kick legs up to touch them, stretch the hamstrings

4. Side Lunges

5. Plank Walks

6. Bear Crawls - walk forward on hands and feet

7. Sumo Walks - walk in squat position

8. Lunges

9. Sprints

10. Backward Jog

Have fun!

Adventure Run

Here is a new twist on an old favorite. We have done the runs where we stop every so many miles to do push-ups and sit-ups. This will be similar but focus more on your environment and it will be all lower body. Hopefully many of you are in a location where you can run outside. Whether you are in a development, city, or wooded area I am sure there will be some hills and ledges. Get outside and have some fun with this challenging and exciting workout!

** You will run for 45 minutes. Choose any pace you are comfortable with. Within the 45 minutes you will need to perform the following. Make sure to space it out! **

1. Jog backwards up a hill that is approximately 100 meters in length - be careful

2. Ledge jumps - same as a box jump. pick a curb, landscape or bench

3. Lunges up stairs - choose steps that have approximately 10 stpes

While running for the 45 minutes, perform the above 3 challenges 3 times a piece.

Have fun!

We Are Back

Hey everyone! Sorry for the somewhat long delay between blog posts. In the ultra competitive world of blogging, a long break like this is certainly not ideal. But I will make the delay worth your while, I promise.

I would like to pick up right where we left off. If you remember, this blog is not just about working out. It is about working towards something. And using physical fitness and and a sound mind to get you there. As I may have mentioned close to a thousand times, the whole idea of training yourself towards a goal is a powerful motivator. Maybe one of the best out there. When you train for a specific goal, or challenge, you really put your heart and soul into the training. And more than that, once the challenge is complete, you feel better than you may have ever thought. It is a pure feeling of success, accomplishment and self admiration.

In addition to this methodology, I have picked something else up in my absence. I am no longer a fan of gyms. All you need is your body and some minor toys here and there to switch things up. We will be using this approach, along with the training goal as our two of our cornerstones. The others being community and healthy eating.

We will talk about more of this in the coming posts. For now, I want to get right back into the action with a workout! Enjoy!

** Perform the following exercises for 1 minute each. Repeat each group 3 times then move onto the next group. Rest for 3 minutes between each group **

1A. Standard push-ups
1B. Leg Scissors
1C. Jump Lunge

2A. Star Jumps
2B. Alligator kicks
2C. Jacks - jumping jacks without the jump (just your arms)

3A. Arm cirlces
3B. Plank
3C. Body squat

4A. Run in place
4B. Diamond push-ups
4C. Get-ups (sit down and get up)

I think you will enjoy this one.