For the Mind & Body

Using just your body weight, try this approach to burning fat and building muscle and bone density in a short but effective workout.

1.) warm up – 10 minutes – rest 90 seconds once complete.

Warm up for 10 minutes to get your heart rate and body temperature up.  I like the elliptical machine, but a brisk walk around the block will do the trick.  Jumping rope is also effective.

2) The full body workout routine

Complete the entire routine with zero rest in between exercises.   This workout will take you 5 full minutes.  The goal is to see how many circuits you can do in the 5 minute time limit.

• 3 pull ups
• 5 push ups
• 10 squats (no weight, just your body weight).
• repeat for 5 full minutes

Count the number of completed circuits.  The goal is to get more each workout.

3.)  Warm down 10 minutes

Walk at an easy pace for 10 minutes to slowly bring your heart rate down to resting levels.  I again use the elliptical machine to complete this workout.

This is a quick 25 minute workout that can be done 2 days per week with 48 hours between sessions.  A great Cardio / weight training session in one workout.

When most people think of ab workouts, they think of countless sit ups and a lot of time being consumed. Truthfully developing your abdominal muscles is easier than it seems. I use a variation of exercises while working out at the gym, but there are many you can do with no equipment required in the comfort of your own home.

One that I find most effective is leg lifts. You simply lay flat on your back and put your arms straightened out under your lower back for support. You will then raise both legs off of the ground about 6in. while keeping them straight. The first move is to bring your knees to your chest in a controlled motion without rolling your body backwards. The second motion is to extend them upwards towards the ceiling until they are straight. Bring them back down to your chest and push them out back to a straightened position while still holding them above the ground.  That equals one rep. A good number to reach on that exercise is 3 sets of 10. The most important factor in this exercise is to never let your legs touch the ground until the set is over. Placing your legs on the ground midway through relieves pressure of the abdominal causing you to lose effectiveness.

There are three simple things you can do that will help develop your abdominal muscles and uncover your six pack that most people don’t focus on. You have to get a good nights sleep. This will be the easiest and probably your favorite step in developing abs! Whats easier than sleeping? After your good nights sleep when you first wake up in the morning, your body is hungry and thirsty, having not received nutrition for hours. The first thing you need to do is drink a cup of water. Water boosts the metabolism making your body healthier. The next step is to eat a healthy breakfast. It has been proven that people who eat breakfast will develop their ab muscles easier than people who tend to skip it.

Apart from working out on a regular basis, you must lead an active and healthy lifestyle to successfully develop your abs. Before you will see results you must have control over your diet . But if you stick with your diet and exercises, you will be impressed with your progress in a months time!

Try this triple set workout.

• Jog in place for two minutes
• drop down and do 10 push ups
• back on your feet for squats – 10 reps
• back down for 10 sit-ups
• rest one full minute
• repeat

The idea is to keep moving until the rest break comes.  Cardio and strength training in one quick workout that you can do anywhere, even in a hotel room while on vacation – no gym required!

Beginners can do push ups from the knees to reduce resistance.  Sit-ups can be converted to crunches.  Have fun, mix it up!

Got stairs?

Try this routine:

Warm up for 5 minutes, jumping jacks, jump rope, etc.

Walk down a long flight of steps, turn around, and walk up them.  Repeat for 3 times for your first set, then rest a minute.  Increase the effects by working up to a slow jog up the stairs, but always walk down.  Eventually, if you don’t have knee issues, you can sprint up the stairs for a massive calorie burn.

Walking down is the recover time, allows your breathing to catch up and fat to turn into energy, blasting up the stairs digs into those fat cells.  This is often referred to as HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training.

Good news is, you only need to do HIIT every other day, and the calorie burning effect continues on even when your done with the last step!

Work your way up to 15 to 20 minutes, resting for 30 seconds after 60 seconds of steps.