Keeping the Intensity Up

Hi! How did everyone do with the Olympic Challenge? I hope you all enjoyed yourself. The winning time that I received was just under 180 minutes total. So if you scored around there, you should be extremely happy! So as the Olympics are still going on, and still influeincing a lot of people (like the guy who just spontaneously decided to try and swim accross the Atlantic - he failed) we are going to continue with high intensity workouts. Hope you enjoy today's!

1. Bike 20 minutes

2A. Pull-ups: 5 sets (each till failure) by now your 5 sets should look something like this - 15, 12, 8, 6, 2
2B. Incline Bench Press: 5 sets (do the same amount of reps you get with the pull-ups, choose weight to match)

3A. Wide Grip Rows: 5 sets (20, 16, 12, 8, 4)
3B. Flat Bench Press: 5 sets (20, 16, 12, 8, 4)

4A. Cable Chest Fly: 3 sets (12, 12, 12)
4B. Dumbbell Back Fly: 3 sets (12, 12, 12)

5. Run 3 miles

You will feel good with the pump and run... Have Fun. 

Final Stage

Welcome to the 4th and final stage of the workout Olympic time trail challenge!!! I hope you have all been having an awesome time with it.  I will be taking a rest day today, then preforming this workout tomorrow. But I wanted to post it now in case any of you mega meatheads out there wanted to crush it today. As promised, this will be the hardest phase. It incorporates active recovery, heavy lifting and a whole lot of effort. Give it your absolute all.

* Go right from one to the next. Rest when you need to *

1A. Bar Bell Squats: 5 sets (5, 5, 5, 5, 5)
1B. Jump Squats: 5 sets (10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

 - Run 1 mile


2A. Bench Press: 5 sets (5, 5, 5, 5, 5)
2B. Push-ups: 5 sets (10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

 - Run 1 mile


3A. Pull-ups: 5 sets (5, 5, 5, 5, 5)
3B. Inverted Push-ups: 5 sets (10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

 - Run 1 mile


4A. Military Shoulder Press: 5 sets (5, 5, 5, 5, 5)
4B. Lateral Raises: 5 sets (10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

 - Run 1 mile


5A. Dead Lifts: 5 sets (5, 5, 5, 5, 5)
5B. Leg Lift & Crunch Combo: 5 sets (10, 10, 10, 10, 10) - Lay on back and lift legs up as you crunch







Quote from one of the Olympians coach "Do you want and ice cream cone or a gold medal?"

Have Fun 

Stage 3

And it gets even harder!!!!!

How is everyone doing so far?  I hope you are all having fun with it. I must say, the friendly competition here as made me go even harder the past 2 days. I know that today will be no exception. Today we are doing only a few exercises that are meant to target the whole body. The purpose of this is to max out every muscle on every move. But remember, tomorrow will be even harder as the final stage.

Good luck:

Preform the following groups 1 at a time. You can get the reps, within the group, in any order you want. Complete group 1 before moving to group 2.

Group 1:
25 Burpees (with the jump!)
25 Push-up to Pull-up
25 Plank to Push-up
25 Deadlift to Bent Over Row - use 30 lb dumbbells

Group 2:
50 Lunge Jumps - 50 each leg so 100
50 Clean and Press - use 30 lb dumbbells

Group 3:
100 Ski Jumps (side to side - hands on your hips - put a dumbbell on the ground to jump over)
100 Abdominal Crunches

Group 4:
3 mile run

YES!!!!

Stage 2

Hope everyone did well yesterday. It was challenging but not too bad. As the days go on, the workouts will become harder, so you will need to push yourselves further to make a solid time. Remember, pain is temporary, glory, succeeding, quitting and  giving up are all for life.

The mighty 500! Preform the following in order. Time yourself.

25 Pull-ups
50 Dead Lifts (135 lbs)
50 Military Press (85 lbs)
50 Box Jumps (24 inches)
50 Leg Lifts
50 Decline Crunches
50 Mountain Climbers - 50 each leg, so 100 total
50 Bench Press (135 lbs)
50 Bent Over Rows (85 lbs)
50 Diamond Push-ups
25 Pull-ups

Tomorrow..... gets harder

Have Fun. 

In Honor Of....

Hello everyone. Welcome back from what I hope was an awesome weekend! This week you should all be feeling an extra push, or strive for awesomeness with the Olympics right around the corner. So in the spirit of the Olympics, we are going to do challenges all week!  Each day will be based on a different set of exercises (strategies) where you need to track your time. At the end of the week, you will add up all your times (from each days challenge) to get your final score. The idea would be that all of you send me your times. I will be giving the winner a prize.

So, if you are up for the challenge, time yourself during each exercise, then add them all up and send me your time. There will be 4 exercises in all. I will give everyone till Sunday to do the 4 routines. Sunday night I will announce the winner.

Let the games begin!!!!

* Preform the following reps.  Do the weight that is listed. Preform each super-set circuit 3 times *

1A. Flat Bench Dumbbell Press: 20 reps (40 lbs)
1B. Single Arm Dumbbell Row: 10 reps (40 lbs) 10 reps each hand
1C. Shoulder Press with Dumbbell: 12 reps (35 lbs)

2A. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 16 resp (35 lbs) Keep one arm up while you do the other, then alternate
2B. Bent Over Rows: 20 reps (30 lbs)
2C. Iron Crosses: 15 reps (10 lbs)

3A. Chest Fly's: 12 reps (25 lbs)
3B. Back Fly's: 15 reps (15 lbs)
3C. Shrugs: 10 reps (50 lbs)

4A. EWOK Push-ups: 12 reps (no weight)
4B. Bent Over Underhand Grip Rows: 10 reps (25 lbs) 10 reps each hand
4C. Arnold Presses: 10 reps (35 lbs)

5A. Bicep Curls: 12 reps (25 lbs)
5B. Overhead Tricep Extensions: 12 reps (50 lbs)

6A. Hammer Curls: 10 reps (20 lbs)
6B. Bench Dips: 15 reps (no weight)

Remember - prize goes to the winner. And don't try to lie to me - Ill know the times (since I know nobody can beat mine)

Have a lot of fun 

My Favorite

The following will take me no more than 45 minutes.

100 Pull-ups

500 Push-ups

You choose the order

Go.

Legs and Shoulders

Hello Shredders and Shreddetes! Welcome to another fine day of muscle producing workouts! Today we will be focusing on legs and shoulders. Now why is it that we can do both of these in one day? Well, legs are big and shoulders are small. Think of it like Chest and Triceps if you will. Plus, I know a lot of people do all sorts of crazy shoulder workouts, but truth be told, you really only need raises, shrugs and presses.  So here it is. You will be tired and sweaty so enjoy every second of it.

1. Squats: 5 sets (12, 12, 8, 8, 6)

2. Leg Presses: 3 sets (10, 10, 10)

3. Lunges with Dumbbell: 3 sets (10, 10, 10)

4. Military Shoulder Press: 5 sets (12, 12, 8, 8, 6)

5A. Shoulder Raises: 4 sets (10, 10, 10, 10)
5B. Jump Squats: 4 sets (10, 10, 10, 10)

6A. Shrugs: 3 sets (12, 12, 12)
6B. Jump Lunges: 3 sets (10, 10, 10) 10 each leg so technically 20

7. Dumbbell Press Burn Out: 1 long set - start with 30 lbs. Do as many as you can and drop 5 lbs each time you cant lift any more.

By the way, check out the new picture I posted. It was exactly (to the weekend) 1 year later. I like to take these pics every July 4th to gauge progress.

Ed, don't hate me but no abs today.


Have Fun. 

Back and Triceps

So sore! It is awesome. I could barely wash under my arms in the shower because I was sore. Great. Today, we are shooting for the same results, but this time from the back of the body. Now that the front is beefed up, we need to hit the back just as hard!  So without further useless banter, see below. 

1. Pull-ups: 6 sets (each till failure) - I don't care if you hang by the end, just hang until you drop!

2. Cable Wide Grip Rows: 4 sets (12, 10, 10, 8)

3. Bent Over Dumbbell Rows: 3 sets (8, 8, 8) - Alternate arms (this motion resembles starting a lawn mower

4. Lat Pull-downs: 4 sets (10, 12, 12, 10

5. Inverted Push-ups: 4 sets (each till failure) - hang from a bar (smith machine)

6. Facing Grip Pull-ups: 3 sets (each till failure)

7. Overhead Tricep Extensions with Dumbbell: 3 sets (12, 12, 12)

8. Head Bangers: 3 sets (8, 8, 8)

9. Cable Extensions: 3 sets (8, 8, 8)

10 Dips on the Bench: 2 sets (25, 25) 

Have fun!

Chest and Bi's

It has been a while since this awesome combo has been put together in this blog. I figure it is time to switch it up yet again and go do some old fashion heavy chest and bicep lifting. On a side note, I would like everyone to try something. I started writing down in 1 sentence everything I look forward to in a day. Even if there is nothing but returning back to sleep. It actually makes the day go by a lot faster and you are in a better attitude. Try it and this workout!

1. Bench Press: 6 sets (12, 10, 8, 6, 4)

2. Incline Bench Press: 6 sets (4, 6, 8, 10, 12)

3. Cable Fly's: 4 sets (10, 10, 10, 10)

4. Flat Bench Dumbbell Press: 6 sets (4, 6, 8, 10, 12)

5. Incline Bench Dumbbell Press: 6 sets (12, 10, 8, 6, 4)

6. Straight Bar Curl: 4 sets (10, 10, 10, 10)

7. EZ Bar Curl: 3 sets (8, 8, 8)

8. Hammer Curls: 3 sets (15, 15, 15)

9. 100 Push-ups

Have fun! Tomorrow Back and Triceps 

Light +

Today's workout takes on a similar format to yesterday's.  After the workout yesterday, I was drained. Pale, dripping sweat and physically crushed. It was a great feeling. So today, I want to get right back at it. Only instead of the heavy lifting, we will be shooting for higher reps with the weighted activities, and more resistance with the treadmill. Call it the polar opposite of yesterday. This workout is sure to bring the same kind of intensity while not overworking or undoing the leaps and bounds we made yesterday. Get your towel ready. 

* for the A/B super-set part, repeat 3 times for a total of 6 exercises before moving on *

1. 5 minute walk on treadmill - 15% incline 3.0 speed

2A. Clean and Press - 15 reps

2B. Lat Pull-downs - 15 reps

3. 5 minute walk on treadmill - 15% incline 3.0 speed

4A. Walking Push-ups with Dumbbell - 15 reps

4B. Dumbbell Shoulder Swing - 15 reps

5. 5 minute walk on treadmill - 15% incline 3.0 speed

6A. One Arm Tossing Dumbbell Squat - 15 reps

6B. Iron Cross - 15 reps

7. 5 minute walk on treadmill - 15% incline 3.0 speed

8A. Lunges (with extra rep) - 15 reps

8B. Plank to Push-up - 15 reps

9A. Bar Bell Bicep Curl: 5 sets (12, 8, 6, 6, 12)

9B. Cable Triceps extensions: 5 sets (12, 8, 6, 6, 12)

Have fun!

Heavy +

Hope everyone has had an awesome few days with July 4th and the beautiful weekend!  Another Monday is here and that means another chance to start the week off right! So lets jump into a new kind of workout that is going to wake up our muscles and relieve us of all cob webs. Start the week off with a bang, and you will not fizzle. Enjoy Heavy +

1. 5 minute treadmill
2. Dead Lifts: 5 sets (8, 6, 4, 6, 8)


3. 5 minute treadmill
4. Squats: 5 sets (8, 6, 4, 6, 8)


5. 5 minute treadmill
6. Incline Bench Press: 5 sets (8, 6, 4, 6, 8)


7. 5 minute treadmill
8. Military Shoulder Press: 5 sets (8, 6, 4, 6, 8)


9. 5 minute treadmill
10. Pull-ups: 5 sets (8, 6, 4, 6, 8)


11. 4 minutes straight of crunch / holds - do crunches for 30 seconds, then hold half way for 30. repeat 4 times.


Have fun!

Meathead Monday

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. The weather was incredible so I really hope you took full advantage of it and played outside.  Welcome to another big week. With only 2 days away from 4th of July, we need to have a solid workout today. And to have a solid workout, we need to do one fit for a true meathead. How do we do that? Well, by doing the two largest muscle groups through compound exercises over and over again! If you think repetition is stupid, then check out Bolero by Ravel to change your mind.

SQUATS AND PULL-UPS!!!

1A. Squats: 10 sets (10, 12, 14, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4)
1B. Pull-ups: 10 sets (As many as possible, do not go over 10 though)

Looks so simple, but try it. I am really sore and I did this Saturday.  If at any time, switch to leg presses for squats and pull-downs for pull-ups.  I switched to both for the 8th, 9th and 10th sets.