Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Make it happen.......NOW!!!!


What are you waiting for you? Why havent you gotten yourself in the best shape of your life yet? Are you scared? Are you waiting for the perfect time? Dont know what first step to take?

Whatever your doing right now stop and think about where you would like to be. Challenge yourself here, how much better could you become? You can control your next step and not make it like any other step, you can bring on a new way of thinking, new way of doing and new way of life! Anyone can talk about doing something tomorrow or a week from now or month from now but not everyone can take action and get things done! Those who take action become successful. Dont be ordinary like everyone else, be better.....dominate!

Let me know what action you take today~

D4R....

Monday, August 22, 2011

5 ways to improve your pull-ups



The lat pulldown has become more popular around gyms than the pull-ups. The reason is simple, pull-ups are freaking hard and most people cant do them well or just cant do them at all. Here are some ways to change that.



1) Lose excess weight/body fat-You need to be strong and lean to do pull-ups. The heavier you are the harder its going to be to excute obviously.



2) Do not train to failure-When your doing pull-ups if you always train to failure you end up with horrible sloppy reps and you just dont gain a benefit from it. In fact going to failure on pull-ups often tends to lead to decreases in strength and mass gains for reasons unknown, it just happens.



3) Elbows towards your sides-Think about driving your elbows down and back to really bring the lats into play and therefore avoid relying mostly on your biceps.'



4) Improve your grip strength- the stronger your grip the better your pull-ups will be. You can build grip strength by doing more deadlifts and reverse curls or by using fatter barbells. You can also do wrist curls and other exercises geared towards grip strength.



5) Train with different ranges-To do a bunch of pull-ups you need both strength and endurance. Make sure you lift with low rep ranges for strength and high rep ranges for endurance. You can use bands as assistance for the pullups if need be.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Full blast back routine



A1) Seated row with V bar- You will hold each rep and focus on squeezing the shoulder blades together at the back of the movement. Rep 1-8sec rep 2- 7 sec rep 3-6 sec........until last rep is held for 1 sec. 8 total reps of course. The isometric hold is a great way to recruit more muscle fibers and has been shown to be highly effective when training the back.


**Rest 60 sec and repeat this for 3 more total sets




B1) T-bar row-This will be done as a drop set. Do your first set with a challenging weight for 8-10 reps. then immediately drop 25lbs off the bar and then try and rep out another 8-10 reps.


**Rest 60 sec and repeat this for 3 more total sets




C1) One arm row with a dumbbell and pause-Do a standard one arm row but let the weight rest on the floor at the bottom for a 1 sec pause each rep before exploding up as fast as you can. This pause will keep you from cheating and allow you to focus better on solid movements. Do 8 reps


**Rest 60 sec and repeat this for 3 more total sets



Done!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Lower body mechanics with Mike Kelly




Here is another video from my friend and physical therapist Mike Kelly. This video describes the function and muscular interactions of the lower extremity. The video provides information about the critical importance of hip strength during functional activities. Hip strength provides the lower extremity with the strength and stability for gait, running, squatting and for balance. Hip strength The video demonstrates both non-weight bearing and weight bearing activities for hip strengthening. The weight bearing activities also help increase strength in functional planes.


Sunday, August 7, 2011

Another bicep routine


A)Preacher curls with EZ curl bar-1 set at 5-6 reps ** Use heavy weight so that last rep is tough

Rest 1 min and then repeat 1 more set

Move onto

B) 1 set of Chinups to failure

Rest 1 minute

Repeat starting back with the preacher curls except this time you will need to drop the weight by 2.5-5lbs per side.


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Shoulder health with Mike Kelly




Here is a guest post from Mike Kelly, a good friend, and great physical therapist.

By: Mike Kelly

The shoulder joint is a "ball and socket" joint in which the humeral head(ball) moves upon the small glenoid surface on the scapula(socket). The large humeral head requires a significant amount of stability in this space, and the rotator cuff serves this function. The deltoid is the primary mover in many regions, but if the deltoid overpowers the rotator cuff or poor postures are used, it can alter the mechanics of this joint structure and can cause rotator cuff lesions and shoulder dysfunction.

The video describes just a few of the exercises necessary for proper rotator cuff strength. For proper shoulder health, these need to be incorporated with scapular strengthening along with other rotator cuff exercises. These are just a sampling of key exercises.

For further information, questions, or injury assessments please feel free to contact Mike Kelly, PT at DMikeKelly@gmail.com

Monday, August 1, 2011

Treadmill free cardio workout





Lets face it doing cardio on the treadmill and bike gets boring after a while. Myself, I hate cardio and I know most of my clients do too. This routine is great because it is different and way more interesting than traditional cardio workouts. This routine can be done anywhere. It can be done at home or even in a hotel room or office.

Set the timer for 25 minutes and see how many complete rounds you can finish. Remember you can take whatever rest you need but try to push yourself. Record how many rounds you get and the next time out you want to top that. Do this workout for a third day and aim to beat the workout before.

1) High knees in place-30 sec
2) Jumping jacks-30 reps
3) Squat and kick-10 reps each leg
4) Back kick-10 reps each leg
5) Surfer get-ups-5 reps each side
6) Heisman hops-10 reps each leg
7) Jacknives-10 reps
8) Lateral shuffle-8 reps ( there and back equals 1 )