Great day of learning in San Diego

Craig Ballantyne and I talked about the hardcore finisher approach, too.  Soon, I’ll do a series on how to use finishers with your bootcamps and workouts.

As several of us strolled through downtown San Diego after a long day of meetings, we all agreed on one thing – cardio is boring and stupid.

There were several bootcamp coaches there and it was cool to share some of the ways they incorporate “cardio” into their bootcamp workout routines.  Some of them use drills and ladders, while some of them use an interval style approach at the end.

We got to discussing how we use bootcamp cardio circuits, and that actually gave me some ideas to share with you.  So, let’s do this.  Here’s the deal – be sure to do these cardio circuits at the end of your workout.  Remember, the strength exercises need to be first.  If you’re getting stronger, you’re getting leaner.

So, remember the secret formula

1) Warm-up using bodyweight exercises

2) Metabolic Resistance Training (strength training)

3) Metabolic Conditioning (optional)

4) Insert finisher, interval training or cardio circuit(s)  <— Good times

Why Bodyweight Cardio Circuits are So Much More Effective

Research has proven to you that long, steady-state cardio is not the best way to burn fat.  Of course, you probably already knew that, and that’s cool.  But you or your campers are probably bored with interval training because even when you change that every 4 weeks, it can still become monotonous.

Editors note – I spelled “monotonous” right the first time and that’s like… a big deal.  OK, cool.  Moving on…

For example, if you hop on the bike and do 30 seconds hard followed by 1 minute of recovery – that’s a lot better than regular “cardio”, but even that can get boring.  That’s why I like using bodyweight exercises for the “Cardio” because you:

A) Use more muscle, therefore burn more calories

B) You give yourself variety by using different exercises and sets/reps schemes

So, let’s rock this thing.  Since these circuits will take a while, skip the metabolic conditioning part of your workout (just do the strength training).  This will replace your metabolic conditioning.  Also, you’ll be able to fly up and down the stairs because of stuff like this.  You’re welcome.

Cardio Circuit 1

Do the following circuit one time.  After you complete circuit 1, rest 2 minutes and move onto circuit 2.  All exercises should be completed for 1 minute.

1A) Lunge Jumps (20 secs on, 10 secs off – repeat this for one minute)

1B) Strap/TRX Row

1C) Close-Grip 3/4th Rep Pushups

1D) Total Body Extensions

1E) Spiderman Climb

Cardio Circuit 2

Do the following circuit one time.  After you complete circuit 2, rest 2 minutes and move onto circuit 3.  Each exercise should be completed for 1 minute:

2A) Alternating Prisoner Reverse Lunge (lunge with your hands behind your head while squeezing your shoulder blades together)

2B) Pushups

2C) Jumping Jacks

2D) Plank

2E) Run in Place

Cardio Circuit 3

This will be the fun part.  This is the grand finale.  Each exercise should be performed for 30 seconds.  Do this circuit twice, resting for 30 seconds between circuits.

3A) Burpees

3B) X-Body Mountain Climbers

3C) Side-to-Side Jumps

Now, that’s some snazzy cardio baby.  Now when it comes to the TRX or Strap rows, you can skip those if you don’t have those available.  You will want to do prisoner style lunge jumps so you can work your upper back.

Just an idea – but if you find yourself in a rut with your workouts, you can dedicate an entire workout to bodyweight circuits like this to really change it up.  This is like performing interval training using your bodyweight.  It sure beats the boring treadmill, elliptical and bike.

By using bodyweight exercises like this as your cardio routine, you’ll burn more fat and get that cool, chiseled look (as long as your nutrition is in check).  Oh dear… that’s a whole new post.

Keep rocking your workouts, and let me know if you have some unconventional “cardio” ideas,

Mike Whitfield, CTT

Very soon, I’ll be running in the Peachtree Road Race, held in Atlanta, GA each year on July 4^th.  To me, this is my second Christmas.  I’ve been running it since 2003, the first year of my transformation.  As a matter of fact, that was the first race I ever participated in.

But to truly appreciate the meaning of this race, you will need to understand where I came from.

In December of 2002, I was playing Madden on the playstation and threw an interception.  I was so upset (to this day, I still believe the computer cheated), I threw down the controller out of frustration.  When I bent over to pick it up, I had an A-ha moment that would forever impact my life.

I looked at my large belly and couldn’t believe it.  I had let myself balloon to 300 lbs, XXXL shirts and a 46” waist.  It was no wonder that I would get exhausted every time I went up the stairs in my home.  I also hardly had any self-confidence and self-esteem.  Honestly, I was ashamed of who I was.

The poor nutrition choices I made were certainly a reflection of who I was in the mirror.  Breakfast was an iced honeybun with a soda just about every day, followed by a super-sized lunch at a fast food joint (you can probably guess where when I said “super-sized”), along with more soda.

This was me at not even my biggest

Dinner was where I really cut loose at a point of what I call, “Ridiculousness”.  I would eat an entire bag of chips while trying to figure out what to eat for dinner, which most of the time, ended up being a frozen pizza (yes, the entire pizza).  Then to top it off, I would eat a huge bowl of ice cream, followed by another huge bowl of ice cream.

I had never taken the time to plug in everything I ate back then into a website like www.fitday.com, but I’m guessing it was around 10,000 calories on some days.

Right then and there, in that very moment as I reached down for the controller, I decided I would make a change.  Of course, I also knew it was right smack in the middle of Christmas season and I had to be real with myself.  So, just like everyone else, I decided to jump on the New Year Bandwagon the next year.  But I had a goal so that I wouldn’t bail in February like most people do unfortunately.  I was going on vacation that following summer, and I wanted to drop 50 lbs by the time we went.

On day one, I remember going to my old high school track to supposedly jog.   I was exhausted after just one lap.  Keep in mind that I’m being a little vulnerable here, but I honestly teared up a little bit.  I asked myself if I would actually follow through with this and was this just too hard.  I wondered if I was just too late.

Surprisingly, the nutrition part wasn’t so bad.  I decided that I would allow myself a full cheat day and the rest of the week, I would simply make better choices.  I wasn’t on a “diet” per say, but I certainly upgraded my nutrition.  For example, when my co-workers and I would hit the mall, I used to hit fried foods and rice, or pizza, or a double cheeseburger.  But now, I got grilled chicken and green beans, and I would put tobasco sauce on the chicken for a kick.  I knew it wasn’t rocket science.  Quit eating crap… that’s what it came down to.

It was hard work, but as I practiced and continued to persevere, I was finally in control.  6 months later, I had lost 75 lbs.  It felt amazing.  As a matter of fact, I was so thrilled, I vowed to run the coveted Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta for the first time in 2003.

105 lbs lost

Here’s the crazy part – I didn’t even train for it.  Don’t get me wrong, I certainly did some running a couple of days per week, but I certainly didn’t train for a 10K.  One of the best moments of my life was realizing I was only a half mile away from the finish line… and I ran the entire route.

As I approached the finish line, a sense of victory overwhelmed me.  “I’m going to finish this thing.  This is unbelievable!”.  Tears, again, filled my eyes, but this time they were the outpouring of past frustrations, doubt and fear.  I had done something incredible and it changed my life and mindset.

Since that amazing day, I have lost another 30 lbs, bringing the total to 105 lbs lost.  The best part?  I have kept it off.

That is why I do what I do.  I want to show the world that if someone like me, who was filled with fear and doubt, can do it, anyone can.  This is my way of paying it forward.

I get up at 4:30­ because I’m driven and there’s a lot of people who need our help.  There are thousands (scratch that – millions) of people who are sitting in the EXACT same seat as I was in December of 2002.  They may feel hopeless and wonder how they got there.  They may wonder if it is indeed too late.

Never.  It’s never too late.

So whether you’re a fitness enthusiast who follows this site for the cool workout and fitness tips, or a fitness trainer or bootcamp coach just trying to get new ideas, I welcome you.  And even if you just happen to land on this site because you’re searching for “something”, here it is.

I won’t sugarcoat anything.  Speaking from experience, losing fat is hard work.  Using metabolic resistance training is challenging.  But it not only works, it’s life-changing.  That’s what you’ll find here, along with other cool stuff that will help people lose weight without any fancy equipment.

Let’s build a community.  Let’s share our fitness war stories.  Let’s share our ideas.  That’s why I’m here.  How about you?

Mike Whitfield, CTT

Guest post from my friend injury expert, Rick Kaselj of Exercises for Injuries. But first, try this little test you see in the video below. It’s an easy test, too…

Last weekend, I was teaching a course at a local college and a participant in the class asked me about his forearms and elbows pain.

Let me share with you what I let him know about his forearm and elbow pain.

#1 – You are as Strong as Your Weakest Link

The fellow in my class was fatiguing out the forearms when he was doing rowing exercises before his back fatigued out.

When it comes to your body, you are as strong as your weakest link.

When exercising, if you have weak knees, you are limited with how much you can do because of them. This limits the exercises you can do and how hard you can go, which ultimately affects your fat loss results.

If your weakest link in your upper body is your elbows or forearms, this limits how much upper body work you can do. You will end up plateauing out in the weights that you can do when it comes to upper body exercises like bench press, rows, curls, and presses.

Plus you will fatigue out in exercises like burpees, push-ups, close grip push-ups, cross-body mountain climbers, inch worms, inverted rows. Many more finisher exercises will be tough to do, or painful. If you can’t do as many reps of the finisher exercises, you don’t get as much fat loss results.

The weakest links in this fellow’s upper body were his forearms and elbows, which were affecting his results.

#2 – Do You Get Pain in the Wrist with Push Ups?

I asked the fellow another question:

“Do you get wrist pain when you do a push-up?”

His answer was, “Yes.”

This is also another classic sign that your forearms and elbows are the weakest link in your upper body.

If you have sensitivity in your wrists or forearms when you do push-ups or are in a push-up position, it highlights the fact you need to work on your recovery and pre-hab work in your forearms and elbows.

From working out hard, we often times get adhesions in the forearm. Adhesions are like scar tissue that sticks to the muscles of the forearm, forcing them not to work properly. The forearm muscles end up being weaker, fatiguing easier, and becoming shorter due to these adhesions.

#3 – What else could be causing all of this?

I hate to say it but your computer.

Constantly typing on your computer at home and work ends up shortening the muscles in your forearms.

This leads to the muscles shortening up even more, which will affect their flexibility, their strength, and how quickly they fatigue.

#4 – What is another thing that could be causing things?

Look at your posture.

If you are sitting down with poor posture, it puts greater stress on your shoulders and more stress on your elbows.

Let me explain how.

Try to do a push-up on the wall.

The first time you do the push up on the wall, be in very poor posture. Make sure your shoulders are rounded out and your head is dropped down.

Where do you feel most of the work happening?

You got it: in your forearms, elbows, and wrists.

Now do the push-up on the wall with perfect posture. Make sure your upper body is in good alignment (head-shoulders-hips-ankles in a straight line). Activate your scapular muscles before doing the push-up on the wall.

Go ahead and do the push-up on the wall.

Where did you feel the majority of the work and stress this time?

You got it, in your chest.

If you are working out and have poor technique (posture) in your upper body, the work shifts from the upper body to the wrist, forearm, and elbows. This will lead to overworking them and promoting those adhesions.

#5 – Keeping the Elbows and Forearms Happy

I know you are working hard to get your fat loss results but you need to take care of yourself. If you are doing upper body work – which you should be doing because it will improve your fat loss results – make sure you are good to your forearms and elbows. When it comes to your body, you are as strong as your weakest link, and for many people, the weakest link in their upper body are their elbows. Make sure you watch your computer work and are doing your finisher exercises with great technique; if you don’t, it will lead to adhesions in your forearms, which will affect your fat loss results.

That is it. Thank you very much for reading. Take care of those forearms and elbows.

About Rick Kaselj

Rick Kaselj is a personal trainer in Surrey, Canada who specializes in designing exercise programs for clients recovering from injuries. Rick has trained thousands of clients and completed his Master’s of Science degree focusing on injury recovery. Rick shares with other fitness professionals, and exercise enthusiasts, exercises to help prevent your elbows and forearms from being the weakest link in your upper body. You can get more information about his forearm and elbow program by visiting http://fixingelbowpain.com/ .

I walked in, did a quick bodyweight warm-up, and then grabbed a 30lb dumbbell.  Let the games begin with just a bodyweight and dumbbell superset.

I started with 15 DB Swings, then immediately dropped down and did 15 Pushups.  Then without rest, I did another 14 DB Swings, then immediately dropped down and did another 14 Pushups.

Can you see where this is going?  I finally got to a point where I needed to rest, catch my breath, and keep going.  I caught my breath several times as I worked my way down to doing 1 rep of each exercise.

It was an amazing workout that totally smoked me.  And I only used 2 exercises.  That’s pretty cool.  It’s actually the perfect “homework assignment” you can give to your bootcampers if they miss a class or can only attend 1-2 days per week.

All they need is a dumbbell, so they can knock this out in the comfort of their own home.  Just be sure to tell them to adjust the workout to their fitness level by starting at a lower number (like 10 for example).

That got me thinking about the times I have used ladder workouts with bootcamps.  Typically, I like to use timed sets for bootcamp workouts, but there are times to change it up and incorporate specific ladder-style reps.

They get a good workout, and you get some cool looks including the “Seriously?  Why?” look.

What is a Ladder Workout?

A ladder workout can be a superset or circuit (or a mixture) where you start with a specific amount of reps (8 for example) and you complete 8 reps of all exercises, then complete 7 reps, etc., etc., until you complete 1 rep of each exercise.  Depending on the program length, difficulty, etc., etc., you can actually go back up as well.  So, after you complete 1 rep of each exercise, you would then start working your way back up to the starting point.  So your next round would be to complete 2 reps and so on and so on (I got tired of typing etc., etc…. and I still ended up doing it.  Dang it).

I like to use ladders in a bootcamps every once in a while because it will challenge your campers.  The idea is to rest only when you need to.  I even like to use them in my own workouts, too.

So, let’s do a ladder style bootcamp workout:

Warm-up(perform the following circuit twice, resting for 1 minute between circuits)

Jumping Jacks (20 secs)

Prisoner Squat (20 secs) <== this is when you perform a bodyweight squat while keeping your hands behind your head and squeezing your shoulder blades together

Pushups (20 secs)

Leg Swings (20 secs/side)

Plank (20 secs)

Ladder Circuit 1 – Do the following circuit, resting only when needed.  Have your campers simply jump back in when they can after they catch their breath.  In the first circuit, you will perform 8 reps.  In the next circuit, you will perform 7 reps.  Continue in this fashion until you complete 1 rep of each exercise.  Then rest 2 minutes, followed by circuit 2

1A) Bodyweight Split Squat (8/leg, 7/leg, etc., etc. down to 1/leg)

1B) Bodyweight Strap Row or Band Row (8, 7, etc., etc. down to 1)

1C) Close-Grip Pushups (8, 7, etc., etc. down to 1)

Ladder Ab Circuit 2 – Same way as the above circuit

2A) Spiderman Climb (8/side, 7/side, etc., etc. down to 1/side)

spiderman climb

2B) Total Body Extension (8, 7, etc., etc. down to 1)

2C) X-Body Mountain Climber (8/side, 7/side, etc., etc. down to 1/side)

Metabolic Finisher Ladder – What have I been smoking?  Who knows…

Do the following finisher, resting only when needed (just keep it going – your campers can jump back in when they catch their breath).  In the first circuit, you will perform 5 reps, in the next circuit, you will perform 4 reps.  Continue in this fashion until you complete 1 rep of each exercise.  Awesome. You’re halfway.  Now work your way back up.  Your next circuit will then be 2 reps of each exercise, etc., etc. until you complete 5 reps of each exercise.

3A) Lunge Jumps (starting with 5/side)

3B) Pushups (starting with 5)

3C) KB or DB Swings (starting with 5)

That was ridiculous.  Awesome, but ridiculous.

Now your entire workout doesn’t have to be ladders, either.  You can actually incorporate ladders along with your normal type of routines.  For example, you can use just one ladder like this:

Warm-up

Strength Ladder

Bodyweight circuit

Finisher

Boom shacka-lacka… dramatic pause…. lacka.

You could also use a ladder as just a finisher.  In other words, you could do your normal bootcamp workout and end it with a finisher using the ladder technique.

I’ve used the ladder technique before with the burpee/chin-up combo and pushups.  That’s good times (no, not really).

So gather around in a big circle kids – what did we learn today?

1) How to use just 2 moves for an effective workout and they are great for “homework assignments” for bootcampers because there isn’t much to remember.  They also get to lose fat even when they are on vacation or can’t make it to all your bootcamp sessions.

2) Ladders can bring a whole new challenge and fun approach to your bootcamp workouts.  Just be sure to thoroughly warm up before such a daunting task (ha-ha, I said “daunting”.  I never say that word)

3) You can use a ladder as a unique way to finish off your bootcamp workouts (your clients will “dig” them).

Keeping yout bootcamp workouts drenched in awesome sauce,

Mike Whitfield, CTT

Yesterday, I had a great Deadlift workout.  If you do the Deadlift right, you’re sweating halfway through one set.  Either that or I’m getting old.  Anyway, unless I’m in a hurry, I like to superset a Deadlift with an “easier” exercise so I’m not so winded for the “bang-for-your-buck” exercise like the deadlift.  Yesterday, I supersetted it with the Stability Ball Superman Plank.

This is when you perform a stability ball plank with your arms extended.  Seeing is believing (and shamefully, I do not have this in my library, so I had to steal one from my coach, Craig Ballantyne):

Good times.  It was the first time I’ve done this exercise in a while, so I just kept it at 30 seconds.  It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite supersets.

When it comes to ab training, especially with bootcamps, crunches are where it’s NOT at.  I like to use unique, yet effective exercises when it comes to training the core.

Crunches give you too much risk due to over-straining the neck and spine.  Also, you’re only working the top layer and not even hitting the abdominal wall.

Effective ab training will work your entire core (abdominals, obliques, etc.) in unison.  So, basically, using crunches to work your abs is like trying to get a fire going using a toothpick… or some other clever saying.

Many people don’t realize the “hidden gems” of core training, like high rep DB Rows.  When you perform high rep DB Rows, you work your abs, especially the obliques.  Choose a weight that you can lift for 10-12 reps, but do 15.  That will force your core to work really hard.  There have been days where my abs are sore from doing high rep DB Rows alone.

There’s also the variety of pushups that will work your core, too.  One of them is the elevated pushup.  There’s also the Spiderman Pushup and many more.

But you can work your abs with some amazing bodyweight exercises, too.  One of the classic, yet effective moves is the X-Body Mountain Climber (also known as the cross body mountain climber):

X-Body Mountain Climber

• Brace your abs. Start in the top of the push-up position.
• Keep your abs braced, pick one foot up off the floor, and slowly bring your knee up to your opposite shoulder. Do not let your hips sag.
• Keep your abs braced and slowly return your leg to the start position.
• Alternate sides until you complete all of the required repetitions.

What I’ve done before with my bootcamps was to have my campers “Alligator Crawl” from one point in the gymnasium to another.  The Alligator Crawl looks like this:

Alligator Crawl

• Start from a push-up position with your feet close together.
• Keep your body in a straight line throughout the entire exercise.
• Walk your body forward maintaining a straight line and using your hands. When you move your right hand forward, your right foot should simultaneously move.
• Repeat for the other side and constantly alternate sides until you reach the desired point.

Stability Ball “Stir-the-Pot”

This one is going to take photos and a video (it’s that awesome).

• Set yourself in a straight line as if you’re going to perform a stability ball plank
• Using your arms and maintaining straight line, “stir” the ball in one direction while keeping your abs braced.   Return to the starting position by stirring back.

Let’s do one more.  Let’s talk about the Plank to Triceps Extension (sorry, no photos or video, but I’ll do my best to explain it and I’ll try to remember to get one of my clients to film me doing this one).

Plank with Triceps Extension

• Start in a plank position. Raise your body in a straight line and rest your bodyweight on your elbows and toes so that your body hovers over a mat.
• Keep your back straight and your hips up. Brace your abs as if you’re about to get punched in the stomach.
• Now contract your triceps and press your palms into the ground and push your body up to the pushup position.
• Return to the plank position

Nasty… nasty and fun.

I feel like I’m just scratching the surface with these ab exercises, so perhaps a series is in order

Let’s take these exercises and make a fun ab circuit for you or your campers.  Let’s call it something cool, too.  Let’s go with:

The Ab-Alicious Circuit <=== Do not judge – this is an awesome name for a circuit

Do the following circuit 3 times, resting for 1 minute between circuits.

1A) Plank with Triceps Extension (30 secs)

1B) Stability Ball Stir-the-Pot (30 secs)

1C) Alligator Crawl (30 secs)

1D) X-Body Mountain Climber (30 secs)

That’s how to work the abs – no crunches or sit-ups.  As you can see, the circuit is set up where the hardest of the ab exercises are at the beginning.  As you progress through the circuit, the exercises do get “a little” easier, but your abs do get fatigued so it’s a challenging and effective circuit.

You and your campers will soon realize that you can burn substantial amounts of fat using just bodyweight exercises.  You just need some imagination.

Craig’s Bodyweight Cardio 3 and his 6-Month bodyweight manual have given me bootcamp exercise ideas for years since my bootcamps use bodyweight only.

You can grab over 100 bodyweight exercises here

==> Over 101 Bootcamp Exercises

When you try this ab circuit yourself or with your campers, let me know how it goes.

Also, if you haven’t tried the Stability Ball Stir-the-Pot exercise, go for it and let me know your experience with it.  I tried it for the first time about a year ago and I’ll never forget how hard it worked my core.  Good stuff.

Have fun!

Mike Whitfield, CTT

Certified Turbulence Trainer

This is a cartoon of me and my big boy pants back in the day... that's a whole new post

And I’m not just talking about women, either.  Heck, although I’ve lost 105 lbs, I still get a little antsy and think, “it wouldn’t hurt to drop a little more fat”.  There, I admitted it.

“Say what?  You’ve lost 105 lbs?” <=== that’s what you’re thinking.

Yes, and that’s a story for another day. That’s a big reason why I’m doing this site.  But again, that’s a story for another day.

This time of year is a great time to combine the awesomeness of metabolic resistance training and metabolic conditioning into a nice, tasty metabolic smoothie.  It will give you a new challenge to your own workouts and you can use them with bootcamp workouts.

The way I like to run drills is to use cones as stations for metabolic resistance training, and you use a conditioning exercise to get to each cone.  I even use MRT to get from cone to cone and use conditioning at a cone, too.  That’s also known as “good times”, but it’s only known as that from me.

Now typically, I like to use a template like this when I write bootcamp workout programs:

Warm-up – using easier bodyweight exercises like prisoner squats, regular pushups, planks, leg swings, etc, etc.

Metabolic Resistance Training Supersets or Circuits – This is where I plug in the harder exercises.  This is actually the “perfect time” because your body is warmed up, but not fatigued.  This is when you will be your strongest and of course, your freshest.  For example, this is where I would plug in a harder pushup, and heavier resistance training, even if it’s just bodyweight exercises.  (Remember when I talked about using the 1-1/2 rep method, etc., etc.)

Metabolic Conditioning Circuit – This is where the heart thumping begins.  I’ll plug in some higher rep stuff, and moves like alternating prisoner lunges, jumping jacks, total body extensions, etc., etc.  This improves conditioning and more importantly, it will help you or your clients tackle everyday challenges easier, like going up and down the stairs.

Metabolic Workout Finisher – This is what I touched on a little on earlier this week.  You can see one by clicking here.  This is where I really look to finish off my workout or my client’s.  I’m going to do a series on finishers in the near future (like when to use them and when not to use them, etc., etc.).  But the best way to describe them is that they are intervals on caffeine, and they take just a fraction of the time that cardio (including intervals) take.  They typically last 3-6 minutes (with a few a little bit longer or shorter).

But every once in a while, it’s always fun to do something a little different – like combining MRT and MCC into some amazing fat-burning drills.

Let the good times roll…

The Drill

Set up 4 cones (you can get them at a local superstore for around $5-$10) anywhere between 10-20 feet apart.

Start at about 10-20 feet behind the first cone.  If you’re running a bootcamp, have your campers do the same thing.

Cone 1 – Perform a Prisoner Walking Lunge to the first cone, however, hold each walking lunge at the bottom position for 5 seconds (you’re welcome).  Once you get to the first cone, perform Mountain Climbers for 30 seconds.

Cone 2 – Perform a Bear Crawl to the next cone (cone 2).  Once you reach cone 2, perform Spiderman Pushups for 30 seconds.

Cone 3 – Inchworm to cone 3 (say yayz for the abz).  Once you reach cone 3, perform Jump Squats for 30 seconds (or you can sub these out for Total Body Extensions).

And you can see the Inchworm here:

Cone 4 – Finally, you will get a little break and simply Side Shuffle to cone 4.  That way, you save the energy you will need to perform this chaos at cone 4 – perform 30 seconds of Close-Grip Pushups followed immediately by 30 seconds of deep Prisoner Squats (squat down as low as you possibly can).

Finish the drill off by sprinting back to the beginning.

Rest for 2 minutes and repeat this up to 3 more times for a solid drill-like workout.

The best part?  This entire workout requires just cones – that’s it.  The entire program is done just using bodyweight exercises.

Boom goes the cone drill dynamite,

Mike Whitfield, CTT (AKA Mikey). 

Try this one out and let me know how it goes!

He was even gritting his teeth and grunting (I kid you not). Was he trying to increase his overall driving strength? Who knows.

The good news is this – he gave me a great idea to help you with your workouts and bootcamps. You love new stuff, right? Who doesn’t? Here are some “weird” exercises that are different than the usual pushups and squats. Over the years, I’ve learned these dandy tricks from other awesome trainers and coaches like Craig Ballantyne, Alwyn Cosgrove, John Romaniello and more.

You can use these with your workouts to add some spice, and if you use them with your bootcamp workouts, than your campers will come back just because you offer something different than the other bootcamps.

Weird Exercise # 1 – Spiderman Climb with a Reach (AKA “SCREACH”)

Spiderman Climb with a Reach (SCREACH)

1. Brace your abs. Start in the top of the pushup position.
2. Keep your abs braced, pick one foot up off the floor, and slowly bring your knee up outside of your shoulder and touch your foot to the ground.
3. As you reach the top of the motion, rotate your upper body to point your arm toward the ceiling.
4. Keep your abs braced and slowly return to the start position.
5. Alternate sides until you complete all of the required repetitions.

This is a great move to incorporate into your warm-ups.  It’s a low intensity Total-Body exercise to prime your body for the workout ahead.

Weird Exercise # 2 – Total Body Extension

Total Body Extension

1.      Start in the standing position as if you were going to do a bodyweight squat.

2.      Dip down quickly into a quarter squat and swing your arms behind you by your sides.

3.      Explode up and extend your body onto your toes, raising your arms overhead.

4.      Control the descent back and in one movement return to the dip before exploding back up again.

This is a non-impact replacement for jumping.

I talked about the Total Body Extension as well here.  It’s an amazing way to get the heart rate up without impact on the joints.  Don’t underestimate it either.  You put 10-15 of these in a row, and you’ll find yourself breathing heavy pretty quick.  This is also a great replacement exercise for beginners (it can replace a jump).

Weird Exercise # 3 – the Burpee/Spiderman Pushup Combo

1.      Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.

2.      Squat down on your feet and hands

3.      Kick your feet out to form a pushup position

4.      Perform a Spiderman pushup by going down into a pushup, bringing one knee to the side.  Repeat for the other side (do 1 rep on each side).

5.      Kick your feet back in and stand or jump back up

This was made up by yours truly   Seeing is believing.  Check it out on the video below:

Nasty. Fun. Heart-pounding. Good times. Incomplete sentences.

Weird Exercise #4 – the Single Leg Burpee

Single Leg Burpees

1.      Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.

2.      Drop down onto your hands and feet, but leaving one foot off the ground.

3.      Thrust your feet back so you are in a push-up position but still leaving one foot off the ground.  Thrust your feet back in and then stand up on one foot.

4.      You can add a vertical jump at the end as well.

Again, seeing is believing….

Alright, that’s enough chaos for today I think.  Start using these “weird” exercises to add some spark to your own workouts and try them with your bootcamp workouts, too.  As a matter of fact, let’s use a couple of them as a metabolic finisher.

Do the following superset at the end of your workout or bootcamp.  Do the superset 4 times, resting for 30 seconds between supersets.

1A) Single Leg Burpee (30 secs) – switch the leg you use with each superset

1B) Total Body Extensions (30 secs)

Boom goes the fat-burning dynamite.

Let me know what you think.  I’m also going to be posting a series on finishers like this soon. (You’ve been warned).

Have a great start to the week,

Mike Whitfield, CTT

I’m guessing my shoulders are sore from the Incline DB Chest Press, Squeeze Press and Dips.  That’s a lot of volume even for me, especially considering I’ve been doing total body workouts since November.  As a matter of fact, I am doing a 4-day program, which has been a while for that, too.

But enough about that.  Let’s talk more about pushups.  If you missed it, click on the purty blue words to read about the different style of pushups you can use yourself or with your campers.  Here are the blue words.  <=== Click that

Alright cool, you’re caught up.  I do some kind pushup in every program I write for myself as well as with my clients.  They are too good for you.  They sculpt your upper body as well as work your core (especially the crazy ones like the Spiderman Pushup).

Let’s do some more pushup varieties.

Superman Pushup

1.      Maintain a straight line with your body and keep your abs braced

2.      Lower yourself into a pushup position

3.      Return to the starting position and extend arm out directly in front of you

4.      Repeat for the other side.

5.      Alternate sides until you complete prescribed reps.

Good times for the core – seriously, this will work your upper body as well as your core.  Just be sure to keep those abs really tight.

Triple Stop Pushup (This is one of my favorites)

1.      Keep abs braced and body in a straight line from knees to shoulders. Hands should be slightly wider than shoulder width apart.

2.      Lower into a pushup position, but halfway down pause for one second.

3.      Then continue to lower yourself until you are 2 inches off the ground.  Pause for one second.

4.      Return to the starting position. That’s one rep.

What’s even more fun is making you squint really hard to see the photos here.  Seriously – you’ll benefit more from the instructions.

1-Arm Pushups

1.      Put one hand on a medicine ball or small block and form a pushup position, keeping your abs embraced

2.      Keeping one hand on the ball, perform a pushup, maintaining a straight line with your body

3.      After returning to the starting position, switch hand positions and repeat.

Decline Spiderman Push-up (this one is crazy)

1.      Place your feet on a bench & hands on floor, slightly more than shoulder width apart.

2.      Lower your chest to floor. As you do, bring one knee up to your elbow.

Press back to the start position. Alternate sides.

And finally, the basic, yet effective Eccentric Pushup – this one doesn’t need a photo.  You just perform a pushup like this:

Take about 5 seconds to lower yourself into the pushup position.  Than take about 1 second to return to the starting position.  You’ll soon discover that you won’t be able to perform as many reps as you would on normal pushups and that these eccentric moves will exhaust you much quicker.  You’re welcome?

So, let’s do a little circuit and incorporate some of this madness of pushups.  When I write my bootcamp workout programs, I like to plug in the harder pushups at the beginning of the circuit when you are fresh and stronger.

Do the following circuit 3 times, resting for 1 minute between circuits:

1A) Bodyweight Walking Lunges (30 seconds)

1B) Decline Spiderman Pushups (30 seconds)

1C) Band or DB Row (30 seconds/side)

1D) X-Body Mountain Climber (30 seconds)

1E) Prisoner Squat (30 seconds)

1F) Triple Stop Pushup (30 seconds)

1G) Stability Ball Leg Curl (30 seconds)

1H) Elevated Pushups (15 seconds per side)

Good grief, that’s a really big circuit.  This is really similar to a travel-style workout I wrote for a client a few weeks ago.  He was heading out of town and needed a bodyweight workout to do so he can stay lean.  I got the ideas from Craig’s 6-month bodyweight manual.

So, remember these tips when you’re putting together the different pushups for your own workout or for your bootcamps:

1) Plug in the harder pushups as the beginning of your workout (like I did above with the Decline Spiderman Pushup)

2) Don’t go crazy with pushups in your program and do all of these in one workout – you little freak.

3) Remember that doing any kind of plank or core move immediately after a tougher pushup is asking alot of your core, so be sure to break it up – like how I plugged in the Prisoner Squat between the X-Body Mountain Climber and the Triple Stop Pushup.

4) If you’re using these yourself, try to focus on improving one to two different style of pushups before moving onto a new one.

Do me a favor, let me know when you try any of these, and let me know your favorite pushup.  There are dozens more, too.  I’m talking strap pushups, strap Spiderman pushups… the list goes on and on.

But let’s stick with these for now

I think that’s why many people don’t come to boot camps because they don’t have that kind of time.  They might be a stay-at-home Mom, have a long commute, and even if they work from home, they may have a lot on their to-do list.

I know I do.  Heck, I have a busy schedule myself coaching my clients, writing offline and online programs, giving you cool stuff like this

By the way, I’ve been getting some great feedback on the different pushups you can use with your bootcamps.  I really appreciate it.  I’ll make that into a series, and your clients (or yourself) will never get bored with pushups again.

Anyway, today, it’s all about Express workouts.  I know the internet is packed with the whole “you must exercise at least 30-45 minutes every day” approach.  But sometimes, life gets busy, and I’ve tested the express approach myself as well as with my clients and campers.

You can certainly get a great workout in 30 minutes or less.

Here is what you need to do:

1) Use big, compound movements

2) Keep the rest periods short

3) If you want to incorporate conditioning (the interval approach), than you could strategically put that in the program, too.  That way, you get the benefits and interval training simultaneously.  It’s called a workout finisher.

On a side note – if you only have 10 minutes to work out, this is what I suggest:

Do the following circuit as many times as possible in 10 minutes

1A) Squat (8)

1B) Pull-ups (2 reps short of failure)

1C) Decline Pushups (15)

That’s a solid 10-minute workout.  Good times?  Good times.

Moving on…

Here is an express workout you can use to stay in shape if you have a hectic schedule:

Fast Warm-up Circuit (2X with 30 secs of rest between circuits)

Bodyweight Squat (12)

Mountain Climbers (10/side)

Total Body Extensions (10)

Express Workout (Do this circuit 3 times, resting for 30 seconds between circuits)

Squat (8)

Pull-ups (1 rep short of failure)

DB Chest Press (8)

Spiderman Climb (10/side)

Finisher – Do this twice, resting for 10 seconds between supersets (yeah buddy)

DB or KB Swings (30)

Pushups (20)

Now, how do you translate that into a Bootcamp Workout?  Well, you already learned how to use timed sets, right?  Now we just need to use bodyweight exercises or simple DB moves for a bootcamp workout setting.

Let’s rock it… The Express Bootcamp Workout

Warm-up Circuit

Bodyweight Squat (20 secs)

Mountain Climbers (20 secs)

Total Body Extensions (20 secs)

The main workout

Narrow Stance Bodyweight Squat (30 secs) (these are tougher on the quads) or a Bodyweight Split Squat (30 secs/side)

Band Row or DB Rows (30 secs)

Spiderman Pushups (30 secs)

Total Body Extensions (30 secs)

Spiderman Climb (30 secs)

Now, you can see I added the Total Body Extension between the pushups and the Spiderman climb.  The reason I did that is because it’s tough to go from the pushup to the Spiderman climb because you work your core more with a pushup than a DB chest press.

Finisher

DB or KB Swings (30 secs)

Pushups (30 secs)

Now that’s a solid Express workout.

So now, you or your clients don’t have an excuse to skip your workout

I’ll do a cool series on using metabolic workout finishers with your programs.  They rock.  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, keep working hard and let me know when you try this Express workout.

And have an awesome weekend!

Mike Whitfield, CTT

This was my scene on my walk yesterday.... puurrrrty

I’ve recently started to force myself to take a walk on my off days to clear my head and hit the reset button.  And you know what?  It has increased my productivity and I always come back rejuvenated.  You should do the same, and if you’re a trainer, I would suggest it to your clients.

I always tell my clients to stay active on their off days because honestly, if they are working at a desk, they need to stay active if they wish to stay lean or lose weight.  In other words, you gotta’ keep that body moving.

You can blame it on me if you feel awkward telling them.  Say something like, “Well, Mike said to stay active on your off days”.  I’ll take the heat – it’s all good.

But seriously, you can tell them to do something they enjoy – like jogging, walking, playing with the kids, pick-up basketball, playing hide-and-go-seek with the dog… whatever.  I always suggest something away from the gym so they don’t feel “tied” to having to go to the gym 7 days a week.

As a matter of fact, that’s what I told my friend Rick to do.  I just changed his program around so he’s working out 3 days a week and just staying active on his off days.  This is really ideal for those that are just starting out or haven’t worked out in a while.

Anyway, as I walked and thought, (while shamelessly listening to some old school 90′s hip-hop), whenever an article idea hit me, I immediately would put it in my Evernote app.  By the way, this app is free and I strongly recommend it.  You can save a note and it automatically uploads to their server and will sync with your computer.  But I don’t even use that feature… I just use it to keep my ideas, and sometimes I even use it for my to-do lists.

Anyway, all of a sudden, it hit me.  The pushup.  Everybody does pushups in bootcamps.  But sometimes, pushups get boring… really boring.  The next thing you know, you’re getting burned out (or worse – your clients are getting burned out).  I don’t want that to happen.  So, here are some unconventional ways to use pushups in your boot camps or yourself.

Let the games begin:

Spiderman Push-up

1.      Keep the abs braced and body in a straight line from toes (knees) to shoulders.

2.      Place the hands on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.

3.      Slowly lower yourself down until you are 2 inches off the ground.

4.      As you lower yourself, slowly bring your right knee up to your right elbow.

5.      Keep your foot off the ground as you do so.

6.      Push through your chest, shoulders and triceps to return to the start position, and return your leg to the start position. Alternate sides until you complete all repetitions.

7.     Keep your body in a straight line at all times and try not to twist your hips.

T-Pushup

1.      Keep the abs braced and body in a straight line from toes to shoulders.

2.      Place the hands on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.

3.      Slowly lower yourself down until you are 2 inches off the ground.

4.      Push off to return to the start position.

5.      As you come up, rotate to one side and point that arm towards the ceiling.

6.      Alternate sides with each rep.

Elevated Pushups

1.      Keep the abs braced and body in a straight line from knees to shoulders.

2.      Place the left hand on the floor and the right hand elevated 4-6 inches on an aerobic step. Hands are slightly wider than shoulder width apart (normal pushup width).

3.      Slowly lower yourself down until you are 2 inches off the ground.

4.      Push through your chest, shoulders and triceps to return to the start position.

5.      Keep your body in a straight line at all times.

6.      Perform all repetitions in this manner and then switch to do all repetitions with the other arm elevated. Keep your abs braced.

Stability Ball Jackknife-Pushup Combo

1.      Brace your abs. Put your hands on the floor and rest your shins on the ball.

2.      With your arms straight and your back flat, your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles.

3.      Tuck your knees to your chest by rolling the ball to your chest by contracting your abs and pulling it forward.

4.      Return to the starting position.

5.      Bend your elbows and lower down into a pushup position.

6.      Pause and then push back up

7.       Repeat as necessary

Decline Spiderman Push-up

1.      Place your feet on a bench & hands on floor, slightly more than shoulder width apart.

2.      Lower your chest to floor. As you do, bring one knee up to your elbow.

3.      Press back to the start position. Alternate sides.

And I’m just scratching the surface.  I will need to make this a series.  I have some more goodies in store, like the Grasshopper pushup (in which I have a hard time with… so maybe I can ask my coach if I can use his photo for that one – ha-ha).

There’s also offset pushups, pike pushups.  Ohhhh man…. good times.

So, there’s a variety of pushups you can do on your own or use with you clients and campers.  My favorite pushup?… I’m glad you asked.  I dig the simple Decline Pushup.

If you have some crazy pushup varieties, I’d love to hear them.

As for me – no walk today.  I get to rock the casba (what does that mean??) with a MRT workout today.  It’s time to crank up my training and metabolism…

Mikey, CTT