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I’m often asked what’s the most important factor when losing weight - is it exercise or is it diet?
Although both are essential for losing weight I don’t think either are the most important factor.
Personally I believe mindset is by far the most important tool for losing weight.
Mindset is the thing that will bring everything together, it gives you the imagination, focus and belief to become what you’re capable of.
It doesn’t matter how good a nutrition or exercise program is if you continually slip up and miss workouts or eat garbage, the program simply won’t work.
If you have the right mindset losing weight becomes much easier, you’ll be more focused in your workouts and you’ll find it much easier to avoid pizza hut.
To learn more about mindset and I’d definitely recommend you grab yourself a copy of the pycho cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz.
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Just wanna ask you a question… Usually from what I have read, when you do exercise you
combine CHEST + TRICEP and BACK + BICEP in your workout routine.
(since triceps are used
as helpers on chest and it hits triceps secondarily)…
But is it okay If I will do BICEP
+ CHEST and TRICEP + BACK instead? Because every time I finished my workout on my chest
my triceps is getting tired already what more if I will do my triceps exercise I cannot
lift weights any more… My another concern is if I will do biceps is there will be a
problem or contraction between my triceps and biceps?
Because when I do the chest
exercise it warms up the triceps (also for back + triceps).
Hope to hear from you soon….
Jerome
A. Hi Jerome,
The type of workout your’e talking about is a relic from the bodybuilding days, unless you can train 2-3 hours a day 5-6 x per week are genetically gifted or using steroids there are definitely better ways for you to train.
If you’re the average guy training 3-4 x p/w for 45 min to an hour you’re much better off focusing on exercises that work more than one muscle at one time.
Instead of training chest and triceps or back and biceps or whatever else train the push and pull movement.
By pushing and pulling movements I mean horizontal push (i.e bench press), horizontal pull (i.e seated row), vertical press (i.e shoulder press), vertical pull (i.e chin up), lower body pull (i.e deadlift) and lower body push (i.e squat).
If you break down your upperbody day you’ll be training chest, back, shoulders, biceps all in one workout.
This system of training is very effective for getting the most out of your workouts because each muscle gets more exposure to training, and the more exposure a muscle has to training, the more adaption your muscles will have(be sure to give every muscle 48hrs rest between workouts) .
P.S If you have any questions please feel free to post them here on my new blog.
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Amazingly Australians are now even fatter than the yanks.
A recent report announced that 26% of adults in Australia (almost 4 million) are now considered obese.
With the U.S obesity rate at 25%, Australia is now ranked The N0.1 Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Maybe this will be a wake up call for local councils who’ve begun introducing extremely high fees (up to $1600 per year) for personal trainers and boot camp operators to use beaches and parks.
The report calls for gym and personal training subsides plus a national weight loss strategy similar to skin cancer and smoking.
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With the “functional training craze” still in full swing many people are getting too caught up in all the fancy stuff and forgetting what really works.
In the gym last week I watched a guy lifting weights whilst standing on a swiss ball for his entire workout.
Unless he was looking to improve his skateboarding skills (which I doubt) there really is no point spending an entire workout balancing.
Don’t get caught up in the fads, for the average person training on your feet with free weights is a much more functional way to train.
95% of people have one goal – to look better naked, spending an hour balancing on a ball isn’t gonna make that happen.
Unless your No.1 goal is to get better at balancing leave this form of training to the circus acts. Balance training is not the most effective way to make you lose weight, tone up or get stronger.
If you want to change your body you have to force it to change, whether you would like lose unwanted weight or increase the size of your muscles you need to lift a heavy enough to force your muscles to adapt - which will in turn make your muscles become leaner and stronger.
If you are standing on 1 leg or trying to balance on something there’s no way you can lift enough weight for this to happen.
Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying balance training doesn’t have it’s place, but the majority of balance training should be focusing on working the core. The total time spent swiss/bosu ball should only be a small percentage of your entire workout.
Stick with the basics, Always perform large compound exercises, which are exercise’s that use multiple muscles at one time, use free weights standing up and train movement patterns instead of body-parts.
Incorporate everyday movements into you strength training routine where you;
Bend
Lunge
Squat
Push
Pull
Twist
You’ll get significantly better results in a much shorter amount of time!
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Here is a video of a quick 8 minute ab workout routine, incorporate as many ab movement patterns into your ab workouts as possible.
The core is the link between your upper and lower body and needs special attention, gone are the days when core training meant performing hundreds of sit-ups off the floor, there are much more effective ways to train.
The rectus abdominal’s (abs) is the muscle known as “the 6 pack”. When training the abs it is important not to just perform trunk flexion exercises (sit-ups). The rectus abdominal’s are just one muscle of a whole group of muscles which is commonly referred to as the “Abs”.
The other muscles are: external oblique’s, internal oblique’s and the transverses abdominus.
All movement from the extremities rely on the core for stabilization and force production, it’s the most important area of the body. As the old saying goes “you can’t fire a canon from a canoe”.
Below are some general guidelines showing what a proper core program should look like, apply these strategies to your routine and you will have a shredded 6 pack in no time.
1. Interval Training.
This is short bouts of high intense exercise broken up with periods of low intense exercise. For example sprint for 10 seconds then rest for 10 seconds - repeat this for 15-20 mins, as you become fitter increase the reps or decrease the rest period. This will boost your metabolic rate whilst burning heaps of calories. Everyone has a six pack, it’s just that it’s usually hidden under fat.
2. Wood Chopping Exercises.
The rectus abdominals (6 pack) are designed more for anti-rotators of the trunk rather than trunk flexion (sit up’s). Otherwise the ab’s would look more like a bicep. Standing sideways to a cable machine, attach a rope to the high pulley. Pull the rope down and across your body, to just outside your left knee. Return the cable to the starting position, finish your reps and then switch sides.
3. Strength Training.
By increasing your lean muscle mass you’ll burn more calories sitting behind your desk and whilst you’re asleep, you will also burn a considerable more amount of energy whilst you’re exercising through greater energy demand from the increased lean muscle. Do large compound exercises working multiple muscles working every major muscle group in the body.
4. Fit-Ball.
By using a fit ball you’ll be increasing the range of motion from a neutral spine to trunk flexion (sit-ups), to trunk extension to trunk flexion. By doing sit-ups on an unstable surface you’ll also increase the amount of muscle fiber recruitment.
5. Diet.
If your diet is poor, no amount of training will work. Eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, nut’s, seeds, wholegrains, beans, legumes. If your eating meat and dairy make sure it’s lean and low in saturated fat. Keep sugar’s and alcohol to a minimum.
6. Train all Movements.
Don’t just do sit-ups, train all movement patterns. A good core program should include trunk flexion and extension, rotation, side flexion, reverse crunches and static holds. It’s not necessary to do them all in one session, pick one or two for each training session.
7. Less is More.
One of the most common mistakes people make is they do too many reps. The abs are just like any other muscle, so train them like you would other muscles. Doing hundreds of reps isn’t going to do much except give you bad posture. Add an external weight and keep the reps under twenty.
8. Stretch.
Like any other muscle the Abs need stretching. Lay face down with your hands under your shoulders, push up until your arms are nearly straight whilst simultaneously pushing your hips into the floor. This will increase the range of motion of the muscle and increase blood flow, therefore speeding up recovery between sessions.
9. Static Holds.
To develop a strong core you must incorporate exercises that incorporate the whole mid-section, including the hips. Stuart McGill (leading researcher on lower back dis-function) believes strength endurance is the most important factor in maintaining a healthy lower back. The plank is a good place to start, hold yourself in the press-up position, keeping your abs braced (tightened) and your butt squeezed tight. Start with a 20 second hold and increase this time by 10% a week.
10. Train the body as one integrated unit.
Use strength training exercises that will actively challenge the core. Some of the best core exercises around are ones that are working other muscle groups. By using exercises such as squat and deadlift variations, overhead presses, bent over rows and even push ups you’ll be creating awesome core strength.
If you have any questions please feel free to post them below.
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Over the past couple of years kettlebell strength training has become very popular in Australia, recently Ive received quite a few questions regarding the use of kettlebells, people want to know what the benefits are.(Note:You can either perform this exercise for time or reps).I have been using kettlebells myself for the past 2 years and training clients with them for the past 1 year and a half.I love them, virtually all my training takes place outdoors and kettlebells are a great way for me to train quickly and conveniently without the hassle of going to the gym or setting dumbells and weight plates - I literally open up the back of my truck and have an instant gym waiting for me.
So what are the benefits?
Well…firstly kettlebell training will certainly give you the biggest bang for your buck, it must be one of the most effective forms of training for achieving the most out of your workout in the shortest amount of time.
You see the great thing about kettlebell training is it works the body as one unit with killer exposive exercises, these workouts are great for fat burning, toning, mental toughness, flexibility, strength and muscle endurance.
On recent trip to Kangaroo Valley I filmed one of my workouts… here is one of of my favourite exercises - the high pull, clean, snatch and press.
It’s a combination lift working many muscles at once - great for a quick workout and makes a good finisher.
Give kettlebell training a try, I doubt you’ll be rushing back to the gym to stand in queue in a hurry!
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