Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Bodyweight Exercise Workout Boosters

Ok, so I'm off to LA on Thursday for a big weekend, including a trip to Bill Phillips' house in Beverly Hills on Saturday. I'll be there with a bunch of other fitness experts, including Joel, Isabel, Roman, & Vince.

Obviously we'll be talking about Transformations with Bill (creator of Body-for-Life), and this will be an incredible day.

And I guarantee you that if I learn ANYTHING that can help you, that I will tell you about it next week. Until then, let's take an in-depth look at the final 3 workout boosters for the holidays.

Workout Tip #1 - Jack-Up Your Intensity

So last time we talked about cutting back, and the way to do that is by boosting your intensity.

I first discovered this back in 1996 through trial and error after I made the rookie mistake of deviating from my original bodybuilding style training I started my journey with back in 1992.

For about 6 months I was doing low-intensity cardio and moderate resistance training. I quickly realized the error of my ways, and switched back to high-intensity training.

Boom.

Huge results. Dramatic turnaround. I was leaner, stronger, faster, and overall just a lot more awesome - within weeks.

And back in 2004 when I was training clients for 8-10 hours per day, I saw this over and over and over again, especially when woman who did low-intensity training started workout out with me.

These "low intensity" clients were always the ones who achieved the most rapid results when they switched to TT.

(By the way, intensity does not simply mean difficult. After all, it is difficult to run a marathon, but that doesn't mean that it is "intense". After all, if you can do something for several hours straight, how intense can it be?)

Workout Tip #2 - Ditch the Cardio, Do Bodyweight Circuits Instead

Speaking of long cardio, there is NOTHING wrong with being a runner and enjoying long runs...but depending on long cardio for fat loss is ultimately going to disappoint you.

So this holiday season, when given the choice between 45 minutes on the treadmill (i.e. the cardio confessional) or a 20-minute bodyweight circuit that you can do in your own home without equipment, choose the bodyweight circuit EVERY time.

You'll work more muscles and, with the post-workout calorie burn, still probably burn as many calories as you would with the slow cardio.

Plus, you'll sculpt your upper body and abs, without requiring an extra 20 minutes of lifting after the treadmill.

Bodyweight training is the fitness world's gift to you this holiday season. And my gift to you is a 35% off sale on the TT 6-Month Bodyweight Manual here:
 
 
Enjoy!
 
And now for an instant 20% exercise booster tip...

Workout Tip #3 - Non-Competing Density Supersets


(This is a world-world-world exclusive...I haven't even shared this tip with my editors at Men's Health magazine yet!)

Here we'll combine the classic non-competing TT superset method with the classic bodybuilder method of dropsets.

The results: An instant 20% boost in the number of reps you can do for bodyweight exercises.

For example, let's use this non-competing superset.

1A) DB Reverse Lunges
1B) Decline Close-Grip Pushups

Do 8 reps of lunges for each leg. Rest 20 seconds. Do 4-6 more reps for each leg.

Then move immediately to decline close-grip pushups and go 1-2 reps short of failure. Rest 20 seconds and do another set of pushups until you are 1-2 reps short of failure. (You should get about 20% of your original number of reps.)

Rest 1 minute and repeat the entire process up to 2 more times.

Pow!

Metabolic Muscle Turbulence like never before.

Let me know what you think!
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Complete 6-Month Bodyweight Training Program <== Sale ends Thursday

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