Treadmill Hill Climbs are something I invented to aid with fat loss success. I got the idea from people who run up and down a local hill. I tried it a few times and found it to be an intense exercise, but too hard on my old knees.

Treadmill Hill Climbs – The History

My 16 year old son did a goalie camp last year where they did dry land exercise that included running hills. He told me about a local hill that many people meet at to run. I decided to give it a go. My son, my friend and I all headed over to the hill to run it. My first thought was that going up such a steep hill was intense. The effort to not only get up the hill, but to get back down it was so intense that it felt like my heart was trying to fly out of my chest. The three of us agreed to try this again the following week.

As the week wore on, both my friend and I (who are both over the age of 40) complained to each other about the aches in our knee joints as a result of the hill climbs. Since we had recovered by the following Friday, we ran the hill again. Once again, we both had pain in our knees. It was then that I got the idea for the treadmill hill climbs.

Cardio Intensity: High or Low?

There has been a debate raging on about which type of cardio is better–high intensity interval cardio (HIIT) or low intensity steady state cardio (LISS). I say they both have a place in your cardio plan. As I have conducted the Experiment of One throughout the years I have discovered the importance of changing things up. While this has been applied mostly to weight training, it also applies to cardio training.

HIIT will burn calories long after you stop the training, but LISS will burn more calories per session. The bigger problem is that HIIT is hard on your legs and makes it difficult to recover from leg training days. At the same time, I figured that I needed a way to make LISS sessions just a little more intense. Enter the treadmill hill climbs for fat loss success.

Executing Treadmill Hill Climbs

The theory behind treadmill hill climbs is simple–make LISS cardio more intense by constantly changing the load your body is going through. This is accomplished by manipulating speed and incline on the treadmill. I begin with a 2 minute warm up at a brisk pace and a 1.0 incline. Upon completion of the warm up, I increase the incline 0.5 every 30 seconds that pass by. I progressively increase the maximum incline each week. So, if this week calls for an 8.0 incline, I will keep increasing the incline until it reaches 8.0. Once I reach 8.0 I will begin increasing the speed by 0.1 every 30 seconds until I have done that for 10 intervals. At that point I will decrease the speed by 0.1 every 30 seconds, again for 10 intervals. Once I am back to my original speed, I begin decreasing the incline by 0.5 every 30 seconds until I am back to the 1.0 incline level again. I end the session with a nice 5 minute cool down at a slow pace.

If you do this workout in place of your LISS cardio you will see your fat loss increase. Give it a try and leave me a comment telling me what you thought of it.

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The dumbbell bench press can bring about explosive chest growth when added to your chest workout routine. I personally use this movement as substitute to the flat barbell bench press.

Dumbbell Bench Press is a Compound Movement

The dumbbell bench press is a compound movement like the barbell bench press is. You work the same muscles as well. It is a tremendous mass builder for both the chest and shoulders. The triceps also benefit tremendously from this compound movement.

Getting Into Position for the Dumbbell Bench Press

You will sit at the end of a flat bench and grab two dumbbells with an overhand grip. With the dumbbells resting on your knees you will carefully lie back. You will raise the dumbbells simultaneously. Be sure your arms are at right angles before you press the dumbbells up towards the locked out position. When you reach the locked out position the dumbbells should be close together (almost touching each other).

Executing the Dumbbell Bench Press

From the locked out position, slowly lower the dumbbells under control. They should wind up at the sides of your chest. Now slowly raise the dumbbells back to the locked out position, keeping your arms close to your body. Be sure to do this movement under control.

Benefits of the Dumbbell Bench Press

The main benefit of this exercise over the flat barbell bench press is that there is a greater stretch of your chest muscles at the bottom position. In addition, there is a much better peak contraction at the top of the movement. I find that my stabilizer muscles always need some work and the dumbbell bench press does the trick for me.

Explosive Chest Development

The exercise is very good at developing mass in the middle and outer pectoral regions. This is why alot of bodybuilders opt for including this exercise in their programs. I would say that if you are interested in explosive chest growth, this exercise needs to be in your program.

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• How to Build Your Triceps
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