Random thoughts....

• I will give you the biggest secret to getting the best results you have ever seen.....ready..........here it is- WORK HARD, STAY FOCUSED AND KEEP MENTALLY STRONG. That's it, seems really simple and it is, just hard to execute it and that is were people fail.

• Fix your own oatmeal-More and more people seem to be getting their oatmeal from fast food joints and restaurants when it is super simple to do themselves. Buy a quality brand from Whole Foods/Trader Joe's and cook it in the microwave briefly ( I know microwaves are awful but just deal ) and then add sliced almond,dried natural cranberries and top it with some cinnamon. BOOM DONE!

• 2 things to focus on for losing weight and getting lean-VEGGIES and PROTEIN.
  

• Take a break from deadlifting and squatting and start doing single leg versions of both. Start off with body weight of each and work on form. Benefits are less stress on the lumbar spine, improves the musculature around the knee and stability.

• Check out this motivational video-

3 Splits I like for hypertrophy

Here are some of my favorite splits to use when designing your training program with a goal of gaining lean muscle mass. Some these might not be that common but with my clients and myself I have found them to yield good results.

Split A ( this gives really good balance and lets the legs have plenty of recovery time between sessions)


M- Push/Pull ** Always aim for at least 2-1 ratio of pull to push work
T-Legs
W-Arms
Th-Push/Pull
F-Legs
S-Arms
Su-OFF

Split B ( Hit the legs right from the get go. Back gets a second day compared to just one chest day to help and correct typical imbalance between push and pull . The single chest day should be high volume since that is all you will do for the week)

M-Legs
T-Bi/Back
W-Tri/Chest
Th-Legs
F-Bi/Back ( biceps/triceps can be interchangeable depending on your weak area ) S-OFF
Su-OFF


Split C ( Here I pair lesser common groupings of biceps with chest and triceps with back. Thought is that you get more workload since these pairings don't effect one another. Every other week you can shift which pairing you do twice. Week 1-Back/Tri 2x......Week 2 Chest/Bi 2x )

M-Back/Tri
T-Legs
W-Chest/Bi
Th-Legs
F-Back/Tri
S-OFF
Su-OFF

H4 Fat Burner # 17- Simple 6 exercise routine

Get your dynamic warm up in before starting this
A1) Barbell twist shoulder press ( watch the third exercise in the below video )-8 reps per arm
*http://www.youtube.com/user/H4training#p/u/16/ZoOmokj-t5A
A2) Kettlebell or Dumbbell deadlift-10 reps

Do 4 straight rounds without rest then move into B

B1) Inverted row-10 reps
B2) Cable rope backward "sled drags " ( Put the cable pulley at the very bottom and attach a rope. Facing the cable grab the rope and keeping your arms straight with a slight bend walk backwards away from the cable trying to push through the floor. Walk as far back as the weight stack allows before you walk slowly back in. This would equal 1 rep)-4 reps

Do 4 straight rounds without rest then move into C

C1) Rear foot elevated spilt squat ( elevate the back foot on a bench and place your front foot out in front of you. Start in the bottom position with your back knee on the ground and under your hip. Grab a pair of dumbbells and hold them on your side while you stand up to a tall position)-8 reps per side
C2) Cable standing chops ( put the cable at just below chest height and keeping hips and lower body locked )-15 reps each side

Do 4 straight rounds without rest


Now go back and do 3 rounds of each of the 3 combinations. Then go back and do 2 rounds of each, then go and do 1 round of each.

** You could also start at 3 and work your way down to 1 instead of starting with 4 sets.

Eat better at work-7 strategies

1) Load up on healthy foods over the weekend- if you have it in your house you will have no excuse not to have food around to bring the next day. Odds are you might not have time to run back and forth to the store so get your food in one shot.

2) Make extra-When you cook dinner, cook extra for yourself to bring the next day. Not only will you save money by not eating out but you will save some extra pounds of your body.

3) Keep healthy snacks-Don't load up your desk with candy and chips, but instead with nuts, string cheese, healthy bars, yogurt and so on. What is in reach will be what you eat.

4) Look ahead when you eat out-If you must go out to eat then do your research ahead of time. Everyone has that bit of time at work when they read Facebook and other sites, so instead read the menus of local places and figure out your healthiest options. Look for:

* Lean meats
* Broth-based soups
* Greens with olive oil and vinegar dressings

5) Eat away from your desk-It has been shown people eat more when they sit down and eat at their desk. Eating at your desk will lead you to ignore fullness signals from your body making it easier to overeat.

6) Set a goal-How often will you bring your lunch is a good starting goal.

7) Eat breakfast! This is the start of your work day. Eat breakfast and you eat less throughout the day end of story.

Quick giant set bicep routine

This routine goes from heavy weight and low reps to lighter weight and higher reps and ends with an isometric hold. The goal is to stress the biceps at every rep range. If done correctly and at the right weight and intensity 1 set should be plenty since it adds to 45 total reps. Go 2 rounds if you dare.

A1)Lying Bicep curls ( set up low cable pulley at the bottom and attach a straight bar. Lying on your back on the floor perform a curl)-8 reps with heavy weight

A2) Standing barbell curl with wide grip-10 reps

A3) Seated alternating bicep curls with dumbbells-12 reps each arm

A4) Standing band curls ( place a band under your feet and curl for speed )-15 reps **this will be tough trust me

A5) Chin-up isometric hold ( get into the top position of the chin-up and squeeze and hold until you can't hold on ) Done!

Are you better than yesterday?

Do you wish today is better than yesterday? Are you hoping yesterdays greatness is even better today? You need to be striving for improvement each and every day.Like they say there is no such thing as standing still. If you are not doing anything to stay ahead of the game then your falling behind. Everything starts with your mindset and your mindset starts with you. Your success is what you want it to be. Think about your goals and what you want today and how you will better yourself than yesterday. Don't think about just getting closer to big goals, but think about doing better in your efforts to reach that goal than you did yesterday.

You cant guarantee that you will be in better shape today than you were yesterday, but you can control that you will do more today to get into better shape. Look at yourself right now and think about what you can do today to make yourself better than you were yesterday. If each day you improve then you will always be pushing forward and succeeding in your efforts. If it didn't happen for you today, then make it work tomorrow. Tonight when you go to bed stop and ask yourself " Am I better today than yesterday?"

LOSE THE WEIGHT! GET STRONGER! GET BIGGER! GET HEALTHY!

H4 Fat Burner- Fearsome foursome routine # 2

After a proper warmup-

* Make sure the weights on the upper and lower body exercises are challenging for the rep scheme written

** You can feel free to replace any exercise with another as long as it matches with the correct movement listed.

A1) Upper body pull-Prone dumbbell row on incline bench ( lie face down on incline bench and row both dumbbells at the same time with your palms facing each other trying to squeeze shoulder blades)-10 reps

A2) Lower body-Sumo squat with dumbbell-10 reps

A3) Conditioning-High knees in place-25 seconds

A4) Core- "V" up-10 reps

Repeat this for 2-4 more rounds depending on your fitness level


B1) Upper body push- Dumbbell bench press -12 reps

B2) Lower body-Rope pull through-10 reps

B3) Conditioning-Mountain climbers-20 seconds

B4) Core-Band chops low to high ( secure the band low and chop upward )-15 reps per side

Repeat this 2-4 more rounds without rest depending on your fitness level


C1) Upper body pull-Pullup with close grip-8 reps

C2) Lower body-Lateral dumbbell lunges-alternating sides for 8 reps per

C3) Conditioning- 4 dot drill ( imagine 4 dots in a square shape on the floor and with your legs together jump to each dot clockwise then counter clockwise-each for 10 each

C4) Core- Bicycle crunch 25 seconds

Repeat this 2-4 more rounds depending on your fitness level