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Unconventional Cardio Approaches for Lean Muscle Maintenance

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Last week I wrote an article about Unconventional Cardio. Today I want to take you down a path that will describe the various unconventional cardio methods you can use to lose fat and maintain your lean muscle.

Unconventional Cardio For Fat Loss

The idea behind cardio for fat loss is to increase the number of calories you burn so that you can cause your body to use fat for energy. There are various ways to do this. Some people like the Low Intensity Steady State cardio (LISS). Many will tell you the only way to go is High Intensity Interval Training cardio (HIIT). Others will advocate simple intervals where you run for a certain amount of time and then walk for a certain amount of time to recover. All these methods work, but they are not the only methods that work.

Enter the Prowler

The Prowler is an excellent way to get a cardio workout, but it also helps you to maintain your lean mass. This device literally works every muscle in your body, including your heart. Load up the prowler and push it. You will notice your heart rate climb almost instantly. You can use a lighter load and sprint with it or you can load up more weight and push against the resistance it creates. Either way works.

Short Hard Sprints Do the Job

Another great way to burn fat is to run some short, but hard sprints. Be explosive with your sprints. Make sure your legs knwo they've been worked afterwards. The concept is similar to HIIT where you go all out for a short period of tiem, but with sprints, it is much shorter than in duration.

Medicine Ball Throws Get You Going

The medicine ball can be used in many different ways to get a cardio workout. Here are just a few of them:

Medicine ball slams. You pick up a heavy medicine ball over your head and slam it into the ground as hard as you can. You pick it up and repeat the process.

Medicine ball tosses while doing crunches. You lay down and do a standard crunch, but as you come up a partner tosses you the medicine ball and you catch it, go to the bottom of your crunch, come back up and throw it back to your partner. This is repeated throughout the crunches.

Medicine ball throws. You and a partner stand a few feet apart (5 to 6) and toss a medicine ball back and forth. Don't rest. When you get the ball immediately return it to your partner.

Farmer Carries Will Build Grip and Burn Fat

Carrying around heavy weight is a sure-fire way to get your heart rate up. The Farmer Carry is one way of accomplishing this.  You grab a heavy set of dumbbells or a specially created Farmer Carry bar (with weight loaded on it) and carry the load like a suitcase would be carried. You walk a long distance slowly. This will not only get your heart rate up, but it will improve your overall grip strength as well.

Strongman Style

If your gym happens to have strongman equipment like Metroflex Long Beach, my new gym, you can do some strongman style cardio. This type of cardio involves resistance training as a key component to the cardio workout. An example of this type of cardio session:

10 repetitions of the log press
10 repetitions of 315 lb. deadlift
9 repetitions of the log press
9 repetitions of 315 lb. deadlift
8 repetitions of the log press
8 repetitions of 315 lb. deadlift
7 repetitions of the log press
7 repetitions of 315 lb. deadlift
6 repetitions of the log press
6 repetitions of 315 lb. deadlift
5 repetitions of the log press
5 repetitions of 315 lb. deadlift
4 repetitions of the log press
4 repetitions of 315 lb. deadlift
3 repetitions of the log press
3 repetitions of 315 lb. deadlift
2 repetitions of the log press
2 repetitions of 315 lb. deadlift
1 repetitions of the log press
1 repetitions of 315 lb. deadlift

These sets are done back to back with no rest at all.

Conclusion

Cardio doesn't have to be boring. You just have to find new and challenging ways to do your cardio. The problem is letting cardio get boring in the first place. You won't do it if it is boring. So, spice up your cardio routine with some of these methods and let me know how it goes.

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Log Your Workout for Success

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Logging your workout has five major benefits. It is something every serious trainer should be doing. In my previous article, Plan Your Training Success, I mentioned logging your workout as one of the components of planning. In this article I'd like to discuss the five benefits of logging your workouts.

Logging Improves Your Efficiency

Before you hit the gym, write down your pending workout. I go so far as to plan what weight I will be using on each exercise as well. This approach makes the workout much more efficient. You will know exactly what order to do the exercises. There is no doubt in your mind about what is next. In this way, you are able to get through your workout in the most efficient manner possible.

Logging Tells You the Truth

A workout log is a record of your lifts. We all tend to boost our own numbers in our head, but the log itself is brutally honest. It will tell you when you did not work hard enough on a workout. It will let you know what exercises need help. Your strengths and weaknesses are quickly pointed out via the log.

Logging Helps You Progress

Progression is something very important to any training program. Progression is partly doing more each time and partly changing things up at the right time. A workout log, if kept correctly, will alert you to your progress. It is quite easy to see that your bench press is getting stronger.At the same time, it is obvious when a 6 week training cycle is over and it is time to change things up. The log makes this very important variable very easy to hit.

Logging Boosts Your Ambition

Weight training is the kind of sport that has you competing against yourself every time you enter the gym. A workout log helps with this self-competition. In my workout log I have a spot where I record what weight I am trying to hit as well as the repetitions I am trying to hit. These numbers become mini goals for me. Hitting them is essential and I do everything I can to hit them. If I did not have a log I would not have this information readily available to me.

Logging Pushes Your Motivation

If you were to go into the gym and log just your very first workout and then fail to log workouts again for the next 12 weeks, you'd find out some interesting things. My bet is that at the end of the 12 weeks, if you checked your numbers, you will find that you didn't improve much. In addition, it is quite possible that you would have quit at some point during the 12 weeks. However, by keeping a meticulous workout log you are going to be motivated to complete your training. Your motivation level will go through the roof as you see your progress documented.

If you are not already logging your workouts, I strongly suggest you do so. I use the Bodyminder Workout and Exercise Log, but anything that works for you is what you should use.

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Transformation In Progress

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The Holy Grail Transformation ProgramA week ago I started a new training program created by Tom Venuto called The Holy Grail Body Transformation Program. This program operates off the principle that you can both gain muscle and lose fat at the same time by following some simple principles as outlined in the program. These principles combine nutritional elements with training elements to get you into the best shape of your life.

Nutrition

TomVenuto is famous for his best-selling eBook, Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle. In that eBook, Tom sets the stage for the proper way to eat so that you lose the maximum amount of fat. He sets forth a basic plan for losing the fat using a 40/40/20 macronutrient ratio. However, that isn't all Tom does in that eBook. He also discusses some advanced strategies, one of which he trumpets in The Holy Grail Body Transformation Program.

The main thing anyone attempting a transformation needs to understand is that nutrition is 80-90% of the equation. The saying goes “You can't out train a bad diet” and it is very true. I am one who will testify to that fact. I've spent the past 5 years building some muscle, but I have not gotten into the shape I'd like to be in because I have not watched my diet correctly. I have tried things that have caused me trouble. I am going to do a series on this issue and you are definitely going to want to read it. For now, just know that eating right is not a trick. It is easy to do. Bodybuilders have been doing it for decades.

You will do better if you don't get too extreme. There are definitely reasons for the extreme approach, but it shouldn't be where you go first.

Refeed Days

The key to this system is that it keeps your body guessing on the nutritional level. The simple explanation is that you spend 3 days eating at a caloric deficit and 1 day eating at maintenance (or slightly higher than maintenance). This fluctuation in calories every three days keeps your body guessing and growing. The refeed day is the higher calorie day. You accomplish the increase in calories by simply increasing the carbohydrates in your diet.

For me, the lower calorie days have me hitting a macronutrient ratio of 35/35/30 (Protein/Carbs/Fat). On my refeed days I hit a ratio of 30/50/20 (Protein/Carbs/Fat). What I've noticed already (and I've been doing this nutritional part for 4 weeks now) is that I don't crave junk food. I've spoken to numerous nutritionists about this phenomenon and they all agree on the reason.

Insulin Addiction

I am convinced, after talking to several nutritionists, that people are addicted to the rush of insulin they get when they eat junk food. It is like any other addiction–they have to get the rush. When you begin eating right you get your insulin levels under control. After a short time, you no longer crave that insulin rush. That is why you no longer crave junk food all the time. It is an amazing feeling to watch other people eat junk and not have the urge to eat the same thing.

Hardcore Training

Tom Venuto was a natural bodybuilding competitor, so his training techniques are intense. Tom calls the training portion of The Holy Grail Body Transformation Program the TNB Workout. This stands for “The New Bodybuilding Workout” and approaches things in a different manner than most bodybuilding plans.

TNB is a four day split with the body split into an upper and a lower workout. These workouts are repeated 2 times each week. The key to the system is the constant changing up of the variables involved. You can find out more by reading the TNB report. Be warned: this is not for the weak!

I have just completed one week of the TNB workout and I have never felt DOMs (delayed onset muscle soreness) like I have with this program. The program pushes you to your limits. I will continue to update you on my progress during this program, but I already believe it is something that will benefit everyone.

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Plan Your Training Success

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In a previous article, Reeveluate and Be Real With Yourself, I wrote about the need to plan your workouts. I touched briefly on it and felt it might benfit you to see a more in-depth discussion of the topic. There are four reasons why you will benefit from planning your training in advance.

Time Management

The most commonly heard complaint from those who do not consistently train is that they don't have the time. It is a fact that training does take up time from your busy schedule. If you walk into the gym to do your workout and you simply select your plan at that very moment, you are not going to be efficient with your time.

By planning your training session before you actually enter the gym, you can get started immediately and follow through to the end. You will know exactly what exercises you are doing, how many sets, how many reps and how much weight you intend to push. You will waste a minimal amount of time with this approach. Since time is so valuable, this approach will prove to be valuable.

Consistency

Whenever I want to get something done, I schedule time for it. For some reason, having scheduled time for something kicks my brain into action and I accomplish the task. It is no different with training. If you plan ahead and have a schedule for your training sessions, you will get them done. Your consistency will skyrocket and so will your end results.

Remember, next to intensity, consistency is the best thing for your training results.

Training Results

As a result of maximizing your time in the gym and being consistent, you will see a massive change in the training results you achieve. You should be tracking your workouts in some sort of log (software or a book) and checking your overall progress regularly. The results you get will boost your confidence and send you to new heights.

Progress

As mentioned, you should be logging your workouts so that you know what progress you are making. Making good progress is motivational. You will be driven to work even harder when your planning is paying off. You can't get this motivation if you have no clue what your progress is.

Planning is the key to all of this, so don't neglect it.  The small amount of time it takes will more than pay off in the end.

 

 

In a previous article, x, I wrote about the need to plan your workouts. I touched briefly on it and felt it might benfit you to see a more in-depth discussion of the topic. There are four reasons why you will benefit from planning your training in advance.

Time Management

The most commonly heard complaint from those who do not consistently train is that they don't have the time. It is a fact that training does take up time from your busy schedule. If you walk into the gym to do your workout and you simply select your plan at that very moment, you are not going to be efficient with your time.

By planning your training session before you actually enter the gym, you can get started immediately and follow through to the end. You will know exactly what exercises you are doing, how many sets, how many reps and how much weight you intend to push. You will waste a minimal amount of time with this approach. Since time is so valuable, this approach will prove to be valuable.

Consistency

Whenever I want to get something done, I schedule time for it. For some reason, having scheduled time for something kicks my brain into action and I accomplish the task. It is no different with training. If you plan ahead and have a schedule for your training sessions, you will get them done. Your consistency will skyrocket and so will your end results.

Remember, next to intensity, consistency is the best thing for your training results. 

Training Results

As a result of maximizing your time in the gym and beign consistent, you will see a massive change in the training results you achieve. You should be tracking your workouts in some sort of log (software or a book) and checking your overall progress regularly. The results you get will boost your confidence and send you to new heights.

Progress

As mentioned, you should be logging your workouts so that you know what progress you are making. Making good progress is motivational. You will be driven to work even harder when your planning is paying off. You can't get this motivation if you have no clue what your progress is. 

Planning is the key to all of this, so don't neglect it.  The small amount of time it takes will more than pay off in the end.

 

 

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The Easy Way to Count Calories

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In a recent article, Reevaluate and Be Real With Yourself, I mentioned the importance of meal planning in your physique transformation process. While I am sure most of you nodded your head in agreement upon reading that part of the article, do you really understand why it is so important? Did you know there are two major reasons that planning your meals is important: counting calories and avoiding pitfalls.

Counting Calories

Planning your meal ahead of time means just that–complete planning in advance. You have to consider what you plan to eat for the next several days and write it all down. This allows you to purchase the right food for your meals. In addition, it accomplishes something that most people hate to do in the first place–counting calories.

When you plan in advance you should be making sure that you are taking in the right amount of calories each day. It doesn't do any good to plan ahead if you are going to sabotage your goals with what you are eating. I keep a spreadsheet that has 5 columns–food, calories, protein, carbs, fat. I fill that spreadsheet in for each meal and when I am done, I have successfully counted my calories. You could use a web-based program to accomplish the same thing. There are good ones at Fit Day and Livestrong.

With this approach there is no need to count calories as you eat. It is no longer a surprise. You have planned for your calories to be an exact number. This relieves alot of pressure from you. I suggest you try this just for one week and you will be back here thanking me! (I personally thank Tom Venuto for this suggestion).

Avoiding Pitfalls

There is a huge danger to going to parties and sporting events when you are trying to transform your physique. By planning ahead, you will not succumb to the temptations of eating the wrong things. Yes, people will ask you why you are not eating the party food, so just be honest without slamming the food they are eating. I usually say “I'm trying to lose some fat on my body and if I am not consistent I will never get there.” It works. People accept that as an explanation.

The more often you do this, the easier it becomes. I was self-conscious at first, but found that the rewards I am getting far outweigh the looks I get. I know what I want and I am going for it.

Take a Stand

I say you should take a stand right now. Vow to change how you eat for the better. Plan your meals so that you can count those calories and avoid the pitfalls of junk food. Your new physique will make you happy you did!

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