Get a butt! Top 5 glute exercises

1) Full squat-This is the king of butt exercises end of story. You must get into a full deep squat which is thighs parallel to the ground to give your glutes the most work.

2) Deadlifts-If the squat is king then deadlifts are right behind in terms of effectiveness for the glutes. The key is to make sure you push through your heels on every rep to activate the backside of the body. If your doing stiff leg deadlifts you can achieve more glute activation by adding some extra bend in your knees.

3) Bulgarian split squats-A variation of the squat that is great for the glutes. Checkout my old post for the proper technique. http://h4training.blogspot.com/2010/03/eom-bulgarian-split-squat.html

4) High step ups- Proper box height should have your knee resting at a 90 degree angle. I believe you can go with an even higher box every now and then to thrash your glutes even more. When doing the step up make sure to push through your heel of the foot that is on the step. All of the work should take place from the leg that is on the box.

5) Hip thrusts- This is a great exercise that trainer Brett Contreras has made popular. The key to this is to focus on squeezing the glutes throughout and not allow your back to do the work. Watch this video to get all the details. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCm-70-9_XE

Top 5 most annoying people in the gym

1) The Inconsiderate sweater- the issue here is not the fact that they are sweating, everybody sweats when they workout. The problem is that they sweat all over the benches, cardio equipment and don't clean it up. The worst is when you go to bench press and find a pool of head sweat at the top of the bench. Find a towel and use it!

2) People who smell-everyone wont smell like roses while working out but there is no excuse for horrible body odor. If your shirt hasn't been washed since you joined the gym 2 years ago then I think you have an issue. On the opposite end of the spectrum are those who come to workout with the whole bottle of cologne sprayed on themselves. Either way, not good.

3) Sitters-These are the people who just rest on equipment forever while they wait for their next set. You go to the gym to workout and head out which seems easy until you run into these type of people. The equipment is meant for use not for you to sit and relax, daydream, or act like your serious.....enough!

4) Overly loud lifters-Ok so sometimes on your last set or two you will let out a loud grunt but this is normal. Others however think it is ok to grunt on rep 1 and every rep after that. Being ridiculously loud while lifting doesn't make it look like your a badass or big so just stop. Most of the time you just sound annoying so focus on your form and not your grunts.

5) Mr. Oblivious- This is the gym goer who pays no attention to anybody in the gym but themselves. They will walk right in your way while you do legs or they will stand right in front of you while you lift in front of the mirror. Be aware of others and don't walk around like nobody else is working out. If I hit you with the bar its because your an idiot and you don't pay attention.

6 Ways to stay motivated

1) Be real with yourself and find out why you are working out and what outcome/results you are striving for. It is hard to stay motivated toward a goal if you do not know what that goal is.

2) Get rid of negativity! The " I cant's ", "I'm tired", and " It hurts" will only hold you back and keep you from making progress. Think it terms of the positives of what will come about from you exercising. Visualize how good you will look and feel.

3) Know going into it that working is hard and will be painful sometimes. If you expect everything to be roses and a walk in the park then your wrong. This will be a tough journey, but this is what makes it badass the fact that not everyone has the strength and toughness to do it and that is what will separate you from the average person. Go get it!

4) Reward yourself when you reach small goals or make progress. Self acknowledge that you now can do 10 full pull-ups or can go a whole 45 minutes of working out with minimal rest. Maybe you buy something or maybe you give yourself a cheat meal to enjoy your favorite food.

5) Get to know others in the gym. One of the best ways to stay on track is to find other people who have similar goals as you. On those days when you don't feel like working out they can help push you through your workout. Once a community atmosphere starts to build you will now become more accountable and be more likely not to miss workouts.

6) Change things up! It gets easy to become unmotivated when you are doing the same thing over and over. Get yourself amped up to go to your next workout by doing something new. Change creates change.

Excuses dont make champions

A friend of mine who runs a personal training business always says excuses don't make champions and I love that saying so I am stealing it. Below are some common excuses followed by ways to combat that excuse.

EXCUSE #1-NOT ENOUGH TIME- Horrible excuse plain and simple. You make time for things that are important to you in life end of story. If your not making time then it is not important to you. Its time to figure out if exercise is a priority.

SOLUTION-Use your free time to workout and not to watch tv or search the Internet. You don't need a ton of time, give yourself 40-45 minutes and that's it. If you can pick a time that you can consistently have free then it will be easier to get the workouts in. Even if you have just 20-30 minutes that is fine.

EXCUSE #2-I AM NOT VERY MOTIVATED-You can help yourself with this in a couple of ways.

SOLUTION-You must first find out why you are working out before worrying about anything else. What are your goals? Once you know what your purpose is then write it down and make sure you look at that everyday. This simple task will help remind yourself why you are doing what your doing. Another option is to find yourself a training partner. Get a co-worker, friend or even a spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend. Usually if you go to the gym around the same time you will see the same group of people and somebody will always be up to train with you. By training with someone you can hold each other accountable and you can help push one another. It is a fact that people do better when around others in any situation. Personal training is another option.

EXCUSE #3-I CANT MAKE IT TO THE GYM-Very common excuse.
SOLUTION-When it comes down to it you don't need anything but your own body and a small amount of space to get a good workout in. Sure it would be nice to have numerous machines, dumbbells, barbells and equipment at your disposal but it isn't necessary. Things like pushups, squats, jackknives ( burpees ) and lunges can all be done at home. If you purchase an exercise ball, band and maybe two pairs of dumbbells you can really do some good things at home. You just need you for a good workout so make it happen!

EXCUSE#4-IT IS HARD- Of course it is! If working out was so easy and quick then everyone would be walking around looking like fitness models.
SOLUTION-Make working out fun and interesting. Take a new class or try a new workout, shake things up a bit. But in the end.......SUCK IT UP AND DEAL WITH IT! Yes it is hard, so take it as a challenge. The rewards of your hard work will feel that much better when your done.

Go Dominate!

Pump the pecs with this

Best done with a spotter.

Incline dumbbell chest press-6 reps ( heavy weight )
SUPERSET WITH
Incline barbell chest press-12 reps ( moderate weight )

Rest 90 seconds - 2 min and repeat 2 more times.

Then reverse the set up so it will look like this

Incline barbell chest press-6 reps ( heavy )
SUPERSET WITH
Incline dumbbell chest press-12 reps ( moderate )

Rest 90 seconds - 2 min and repeat 2 more times


Flat barbell bench press 1/2 method ( this is were you press half way up and then bring the bar all the way down and then back up all the way which would equal one rep )- 6-8 reps

Rest 1 min and repeat 2 more times

Snow day!!!

It snowed like crazy yesterday in Chicago and has continued to do so today. Despite living in a city that sees bad weather like 70 percent of year people for some reason freaked out over this storm. I must say that the combination of thunder, lighting and snow is crazy but it was not the end of the world like the Chicago media made it seem to be. Watching the news it seems there is bad weather all over the country the last couple of days even in Dallas for the Super Bowl. Many people are not going to work and school and will have plenty of free time sitting at home. So I thought this would be a perfect time to suggest some things to do while bumming around the house.

1. Try and stack up against a Navy Seal. See how many pushups you can do in 2 minutes. Minimum would be 42 pushups, but the average would be 100. Make sure you have proper form. Challenge yourself!

2. Quick blast routine:
Minute 1-2: Some form of cardio like jump rope, running the stairs or running in place
Minute 3-4: As many pushups as you can
Minute 5-6: Stairs, jump rope or running in place again
Minute 7-8: Squats as fast as you can
Minute 9-10: Back to the cardio....but this time try and do as much as possible!

3. List your goals. List both short-term and long-term goals. Then re-evaluate your current workout routine. Are you getting the results you want with what you are doing?

4. Go outside and shovel. Great for the core, shoulders, back and legs.

5. Quick combo routine:
Use something that resembles a dumbbell like a gallon of milk- do 15 reps of one arm rows then immediately do 10 jackknives ( burpees ) and repeat this for 6 rounds.

6. Cook! Now is your chance to make a good meal and prep the rest of the weeks meals.

7. Checkout this motivational video. Its about being a champion. Not just for sport but for life. If this doesn't get you pumped then I don't know what will.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtAdneAfzcc

Time is a LAME excuse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More often or not people will tell me they don't have time to workout. Really?! You don't have time for your health, for your lively hood, for the most important thing you have, your body. Make your workout a priority! Too many people think their workouts need to be an hour or two and this is just not the case. The most important thing to do is tailor your workout to the time you have. If you have 20 minutes, then hit it hard for the 20. It is more about what you do with your time then how much time you spend working out. The excuse of not enough time is just what lazy people say so they don't look bad. Time is an easy out....often you will hear that people would love to workout more if they only had more time. Please! Don't you find it sad that you can't make it to the gym but you are able to stop at Taco Bell and get dinner.......like I said....LAME.

Below are some things you can do to help with this issue:

1) Pick a time during the day that works best for you and one that you will want to workout at. If you hate working out after work then don't try and do it because you will fail.

2) Schedule at the beginning of the week when and where you will workout. Planning is big! If you don't put it on paper you will forget or you will schedule other things.

3) Workout harder. If you need more time then be as efficient as you can in the gym. Don' talk to everyone and anyone and don't read the paper between sets! Move! Move! And move! Get in and get out!

4) Workout! Richard Branson, Billionaire of Virgin Atlantic, once was asked how people people can be more productive.......his answer......workout! If you workout you will feel better and have more energy to add hours of productivity to your day!

Tip of the day

Try to start your workout with an exercise you would not normally do first. For instance, if you always do flat bench press followed by incline press, try doing incline first for the next couple of weeks. If you do squats first and deadlifts second, try doing the hamstring dominant deadlift first for the next couple of weeks. People tend to fall into a routine or habit of always doing certain exercises first in their workout. Eventually your body just gets used to this and your results slow. By messing up the order of the exercises you will shock your system into better results! You will also improve your strength on the new exercise you start with since you no longer will be fatigued by having to do it second. Go Dominate-