Your “Friday Eve Fit Tips” Primer (5/24/12)

24 05 2012

I have to start this week’s primer with a bit of a mea culpa…

As you may or may not know, last week’s “Gym Pet Peeve” was one that I had encountered while in the gym working through my Shoulders/Traps/Calves day in the Jim Stoppani “Shortcut To Size” program.  The mayor of the machines, as I came to call him, was back in form this morning.  At first, my initial thought was “FML” (want to keep it safe for the younger crowd reading) and that I’d be stuck waiting or modifying my routine AGAIN.

You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry…

Instead, I was on such a rush from a new high in leg press machine calf raises (20 reps at 630 lbs.) that I just simply went over and asked the guy how many sets he had left.  Truth be told…he was actually a really nice guy!  He asked if he could knock out one more set at the seated calf raises before I jumped in, mentioning that he noticed I was “killing it” and didn’t want to “mess with my groove.”

I was in total shock and awe.  We even ended up chatting after our workouts about how much leg presses suck and how we both believe in stretching prior to lifting (he’s a couple years older than me…I’d say mid-30s).  It just goes to show you to never judge a book by it’s cover, GymGeeks.  While it’s still a total pet peeve of mine, don’t be afraid to ask or talk to someone if what they’re doing is really in the way of your routine.  You might even make a new friend.

And that’s only the FIRST of your Friday Eve Fit Tips!  Expect to see more posted all over Twitter and Facebook (and even Google+, as I start getting that profile running).  If you have any you want to share, don’t hesitate to use the hashtag (#FridayEveFitTips).  I’ll get a notification in my e-mail and you’ll be re-tweeted to all my followers.  As I always bash over your head, it’s a group effort to get everyone into a healthy lifestyle.  I refuse to let us get to that 40% obesity rate by 2030!

Have a great morning, GymGeeks!

Jonathan


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Categories : Healthy Choices, Updates

How To Dunk A Basketball*

23 05 2012

(*or at least boost your vertical)

Since we’re in the midst of the NBA Playoffs, I think it’d be fun talking about basketball-specific workout suggestions.  The most common thing the average guy wants to do is dunk.  And why shouldn’t they?  Guys like LeBron, Kobe and Michael Jordan make it look fun as hell!

Sadly, you may not have been blessed with the same athletic talents that LeBron took to South Beach.  That being said, there is hope for you to boost your vertical jump!

Dynamic Stretching

This is a little bit different that your standard (static) stretching.  While it’s good to do static stretching to stay limber, dynamic stretching has been known to focus more on range of motion.  That’s why you see swimmers like Michael Phelps swing their arms around before a meet.  You can also focus on the entire leg doing dynamic stretching, as opposed to having to do five or six different stretches to cover all of your bases.

Squats

This is one of the “Big Three” I talked about earlier today, in terms of lifts.  Not only does it work almost every muscle in your legs, it also forces you to tighten your core muscles, which help keep a solid center of gravity.  To get the most out of your squats, you must go past parallel, meaning dropping down below a right angle.  If it helps, set up a bench behind you at a power rack and drop down low enough to touch the bench.

Another tip for squats; you’re going for a burst of power as opposed to overall strength.  With that in mind, you’re better off going with speed, meaning that you use lighter weight and higher reps.  This will help with the burst, as well as build up muscular endurance.

Calf Raises

Tip: Use an aerobic step to put focus on the front sole!

This is another great exercise to build strength in your lower body.  In fact, you can do this at the same power rack you would do a squat at!  Again, you’re going to be going for short bursts, so light weight/high rep is the way to go.

Now, some people will tell you that training shoes will be helpful, but I tend to shy away from them for the same reason that Sketchers is currently getting sued for their shoes that “tone.”  There’s no real evidence to support it.  All those shoes do is put emphasis on the front sole, which is something you can do by simply putting an aerobic step in front of you when doing calf raises.  There’s no need for extra shoes here!

Hopefully this gives you an idea of what it takes to be able to jump as high as an NBA player…even if it’s only the vertical leaping ability of Tyler Hansbrough (sorry, still bitter that he took out Dwyane Wade last night).


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Categories : Routines

Gym Pet Peeves: 5/17/12

17 05 2012

Before we get into my Gym Pet Peeve for this week, let me just say that some of these suggestions you guys are giving me via e-mail, Twitter, etc. are awesome!  I think I have enough material for the next year, so keep them coming!

I actually had one ready to go!  I was going to write it up last night, look over it this morning and post.  It’s a good thing I didn’t though, since I ran into one of my BIGGEST pet peeves this morning while doing my 5:00 AM workout…

The Mayor of The Machines

“One down, four more machines to go!”

You can spot this guy from miles away!  There is absolutely nothing more annoying than the jerk who takes over five or six different stations at once, ESPECIALLY when one of those is what is standing between you and getting ready for work.

Now, I’m all about circuit training.  In fact, that’s part of how I was able to lose weight in the first place.  Conceptually,  the combination of strength training with the cardio benefits of the exercises being in succession is fantastic.  What makes THIS guy so freakin’ special is that:

  • He has his “territory” spread out all over the gym floor like it’s a game of “Monopoly”
  • Take ages to get through the circuit because he…
  • Puts enough weight on each station where “working in” isn’t an option, and most importantly…
  • At the end of the circuit, he takes time to chat with other people instead of taking the minute or two rest and starting over again.

Aside from simply calling this meathead out (which, at 5 in the morning, is a totally reasonable thing to do), all you can do is adapt your workout.  Today, for example, the last part of my routine was four sets of seated calf raises.  Since this week in Jim Stoppani’s “Shortcut To Size” prescribed high rep/low weight sets (and this idiot had every 45 lbs. wheel in the joint on the machine),  I wasn’t about to ask the guy to work in.  Instead, I was forced to do a variation using some cables, steps and creativity.

If you’re “that guy,” I do have some suggestions to make you look less like a douche and blend in with your surrounding gym patrons:

  1. If you’re going to superset or do circuits,  try to make sure the exercises are all in the same general area (i.e. keep it to the power rack for squats, calf raises, shoulder press).
  2. More power to you if you can lift a ton of weight.  I can’t fault you for that, so go read rule #1 again.
  3. The idea of the superset is to be efficient with your time.  Talking to someone about whether or not FSU is going to the Big 12 is not efficient.  Neither is watching the same Sportscenter that’s been on since 3:00 in the morning.

I hope this has been as educational for you as it has been calming for me.  Keep the suggestions coming, GymGeeks!  Hopefully next week, I won’t have a last second moment of inspiration at the gym…


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Categories : Healthy Choices


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