Exercise Idea: The Dead Lift

The Dead Lift is an excellent  exercise for overall body development - if you do it right.  A well executed dead lift works not only the hamstrings, quadriceps, erector spinae, gluteus maximus, and  adductor magnus,  it also challenges a variety of other muscles to provide stability.

Keep in mind that you must maintain a neutral spine position, arching and curving your back places stress on the intervertebral disks, and lets your muscles slack off.  Doing dead lifts propperly can help protect your back in your day-to-day life because deadlifts teach you to keep your lower back rigid against a load. Keeping your back in a neutral position helps avoid injuries when lifting heavy objects from the floor.

Don't roll your shoulders, your hip muscles should move the weight, not your shoulders.  To make sure you push from the heels (to protect your knees) curl your toes up.  Start the lift with your shoulder blades directly over the bar.  This will ensure that your hips and knees are at the right angle.

Strong bones are good bones.

NEW FLASH!!! calcium is key for healthy bones. Getting enough calcium throughout you life helps build bones up and helps slow the loss of bone.  Increased calcium intake—particularly in the form of the currently recommended three glasses of milk per day—will help prevent osteoporosis. Each year, osteoporosis leads to more than 1.5 million fractures, including 300,000 broken hips.

Calcium is a mineral that the body needs for building and maintaining bones and teeth, blood clotting, the transmission of nerve impulses, and the regulation of the heart's rhythm. Some studies indicate that low levels of calcium are related to obesity.

1 percent of the calcium in the human body is stored in the blood and other tissues.  Ninety-nine percent is found in the bones and teeth.

The body gets the calcium it needs in two ways.

One is by eating foods and supplements that contain calcium. Good food sources include dairy products, which have the highest concentration per serving of highly absorbable calcium, and dark leafy greens or dried beans, which have varying amounts of absorbable calcium.

The other way the body gets calcium is by removing it from storage in your bones. This happens when your blood calcium levels are too low. Ideally, the calcium that is "checked out" of storage in your bones will be "checked in" again later. But, that doesn't always happen. Most important, this payback can't be accomplished simply by eating more calcium.


There are a number of lifestyle factors that can influence calcium storage in your bones:

• Getting regular exercise, especially weight-bearing and muscle strengthening exercise.
• Getting adequate vitamin D, whether through diet, exposure to sunshine, or supplements.
• Consuming enough calcium to reduce the amount the body has to borrow from bone.
• Consuming adequate vitamin K, found in green, leafy vegetables. 
  

Physical activity that puts some strain or stress on bones causes the bones to retain and possibly even gain density throughout life. If you look at the shin bones of champion kick boxers you will understand.  Cells within the bone sense this stress and respond by making the bone stronger and denser. "Weight-bearing" exercises include weightlifting, walking, dancing, racquet sports, jogging, stair-climbing, and hiking.

Swimming is a good exercies, but because water supports the bones, rather than putting stress on them, it's not considered a good "weight-bearing" exercise for bone strength. Also be aware: physical activity doesn't strengthen all your bones equally, just those that are stressed, so you need a variety of exercises or activities to keep all your bones healthy.

Another way that physical activity helps, is that it increases coordination and strength. Active people can often avoid the falls and situations that cause fractures.

Oh, to have the legs of a sprinter

Here's a plan for 2 weeks worth of great running workouts.   It's based on 4 workouts a week, let's say Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, followed by Saturday afternoon.  50% of the workouts are "sprints-based" and should be done on the track, 50% are "endurance" and should be done on your favorite running trails.  Because these workouts are high intensity workouts you should leave the alternate days to rest, or concentrate on your abs and upper body on the alternating days.



The sprints are an interesting variation of the typical cardio workout, and can also do wonders for your glutes and legs. The endurance runs burn lots of calories and can give you a great endorphin lift. 

Day 1 - Week 1


5 minutes general stretch
5 minutes jogging, start increasing your speed little by little

8 series of 50m HARD sprint followed by 1 minute fast walking

5 minutes jogging

8 series of 50m HARD sprint followed by 1 minute fast walking


5 minutes jogging, decrease the intensity little by little
5 minutes general stretch

Day 2 - Week 1 
 
5 minutes walking (try to lengthen your stride)
5 minutes general stretch


40 minutes running on hilly terrain


5 minutes general stretch
5 minutes walking (try to lengthen your stride) 

Day 3 - Week 1 

5 minutes general stretch
5 minutes jogging, start increasing your speed little by little

8 series of 100m HARD sprint followed by 1 minute fast walking

5 minutes jogging
8 series of 100m HARD sprint followed by 1 minute fast walking

5 minutes jogging, decrease the intensity little by little
5 minutes general stretch

Day 4 - Week 1


5 minutes walking (try to lengthen your stride)
5 minutes stretching

60 minutes or more running -keep your heart rate and breathing at a level where you can maintain a conversation

5 minutes walking (try to lengthen your stride)
5 minutes stretching



Day 1 - Week 2 



5 minutes general stretch
5 minutes jogging, start increasing your speed little by little

5 series of 150m  sprint followed by 1 minute fast walking
Sprint 200m jog 100m
Sprint 100m jog 100m
Sprint 50m

5 minutes gentle jogging

 

Sprint 50m
Sprint 100m jog 100m 
Sprint 200m jog 100m
5 series of 150m  sprint followed by 1 minute fast walking

5 minutes jogging, decreasing your speed little by little
5 minutes general stretching

 Day 2 - Week 2

5 minutes walking
5 minutes general stretch


30 minutes running.  pick a sustainable pace and see how far you get, then multiply by 2 to find out your mph


5 minutes walking
5 minutes general stretch



Day 3 - Week 2 

5 minutes general stretch
5 minutes jogging, start increasing your speed little by little

sprint 20m jog 80m - repeat5 times
walk 1 minute


sprint 30m jog 70m - repeat 4 times
walk 1 minute


sprint 40m jog 60m - repeat 3 times
walk 1 minute


sprint 50m jog - repeat 2 times
walk 1 minute


sprint 40m jog 60m - repeat 3 times
walk 1 minute

sprint 30m jog 70m - repeat 4 times
walk 1 minute

sprint 20m jog 80m - repeat5 times
walk 1 minute

5 minutes jogging, decreasing your speed little by little
5 minutes general stretching

Day 4 - Week 2

walk 5 minutes, try to increase your stride length
5 minutes general stretch

run 10k  (or 20 if you feel like it)... if you can run on the beach


walk 5 minutes,
5 minutes general stretch

Human vs Animal Animpics: Sprint 100m

How do humans stack up against our animal relatives in different sports?  There are a lot of sports that we will never be able to answer the question for because animals would not play by the rules or could not use the required equipment.  For example, finding an animal team to play hockey is out of the question.  But some sports are possible for animals, especially the classic individual track and field events.

So let us organize the world's first Human vs Animal Animpics and hand out the medals to see who does best overall.  Now one thing is that the humans get to choose their best athlete in each category.  Human athletes have the advantage of specific, hard training to excel in their event.  Animals do not generally train for specific events, but to overcome that disadvantage, we choose the animal competitor for the species most suited to the event.

So first event up: sprinting, in particular the 100 meters.  Who do we pick to represent humans?  Everyone would immediately pick Usain Bolt of course. He is the current world record holder.  And which animal species do we use to represent the non-human competition?  Let's pick a cheetah.  Cheetahs are often said to be the world's fastest land animal.

Now how to set up the event?  Well, we can't run Usain Bolt and a cheetah in the same race.  We already know Bolts' time: it is his world record of 9.58 seconds.  And the video below shows a cheetah called Sarah that did the 100m in 6.130 seconds.



So recapping the event: humans represented by Usain Bolt: 9.58 seconds.
Animals represented by Sarah the Cheetah: 6.130 seconds.

And the gold medal goes to .... THE ANIMALS!

Animpics Standings: Animals 1 Humans 0

Pregnant Sit-Ups

We all know that the old myths about doing exercise while pregnant are bunk.  A healthy woman, who has checked in with her OB/Gyn, can and should exercise regularly.  She just needs to drink plenty of water, be careful about overheating, and listen to her body.  But what about abdominals?

Abdominal exercises can help prepare the body for labor.  Studies show that women who continue to do abdominal exercises throughout their pregnancy  suffer less from back pain and diastasis recti (separation of the abdominal muscles).  Also, if you continue you take care of your body you are more likely to feel like the beautiful  woman you are, strong and sexy.

After the first trimester pregnant women shouldn't do basic sit ups lying flat on their back, as the extra weight of the uterus can press down on the vena cava, a blood vessel that returns most of your blood back to the heart.  That just means that you have to be a bit creative in designing your ab routine.  Here are some exercises I like:


The side crunch:  It's pretty obvious what you need to do, the lower arm can also be stretched out on the floor for balance.  This is a great way to work on your obliques

The reverse crunch: tighten your abs and try to lift your pelvis and legs up.  Its like a big pelvic tilt, a great way to strengthen your lower abs.

The Crunch:  A classic crunch, adapted to a 45º angle.  Great for the upper abs.

The Cat: a great way of working the deep abdominals.  (Ok I couldn't find any pictures of a pregnant woman doing this exercise, but several expectant moms in the gym use this exercise and love it)

1-2-3 Abs

Ok that thing about the eating contest with the bear gave me a nightmare...

So here are 3 videos of great abdominal workouts to get that belly back on track. We all know how important it is to build up your workouts progressively. Killing yourself on day one will only give you sore muscles, but over time you need to step up the intensity. It is totally satisfying to look back and realize how far you have come.

Video 1: The basics.

Start with this video and start with 2 series of 10 reps.  Concentrate on breathing well, and learning how to stabilize your body.  Over time increase the volume until you are doing 3 series of 24 reps.  If you are used to using a stability ball and/or have well trained abs you could do this over 3 or 4 workouts.  If you are new to all this take your time, build up over a 6 week period.



Video 2: Starting to have fun.

Once you are up to speed on the basics start including some intermediate exercises.  I wouldn't swap one exercise routine for the other overnight, instead I would add in the new exercises one by one until you are doing both workouts.  Make sure you can do all these exercises well, with proper posture and pelvic tilt before adding in exercises from video 3.




Video 3:  Monster Abs

This is where the real fun begins.  When you when you are ready, do these exercises and enjoy blasting those abs!  Note: just like with video 2, I would incorporate these exercises into my routine one by one, swapping out the beginner exercises from video 1. Remeber, you can't cheat with abs, do the exercises with proper technique and you will get results.  If you can't do these exercises withour cheating go  back to video 2 and prepare for a few more weeks.

Eat Against a Bear

World famous eating champion Kobayashi takes on a Kodiak bear ... not mano a mano, but to see who can scarf down an enormous platter of hot dogs first. Although Kobayashi does his best, the bear (unsurprisingly) beats him handily.

Cool Cat On The Treadmill

Treadmills have a kind of fuddy duddy reputation in the fitness world. They are seen as a cop out low intensity training. After all, why not just go out and let loose tearing unimpeded down the street! Of course, there are circumstances like safety and climate which can make a treadmill the best choice. And cranking one up to top speed is not easy; depending on the speed it can seriously work you out. Moreover, all the cool cats run on treadmills, as you can see in the video below.

Speed Rock Climbing

Anybody who thinks they know somebody who is hardcore in extreme sports, take a look at this. Dan Osman climbs that cliff without a safety harness and at top speed. Very extreme. However, he eventually paid an extreme price ... he died doing a bungee jumping stunt. So don't try this at home, kids. That aside, rock climbing WITH a safety harness is a great way to get in shape!

Blast Your Calfs

Think about your image of the perfect body... Maybe you want size, broad shoulders and massive pecs, or maybe you want lean lines with toned abs and firm glutes. But what about your calves? On a woman well shaped calves can help define the whole ankle and knee area, making your legs look fantastic in high heels or capris. On a man well formed calf muscles are vital in avoiding the "chicken leg" problem, after all if your upper body is blasted you need a good pair of legs to hold it up.

Calf exercises are a part of body building that most people just throw in when they have a little extra time at the end of a workout. But don't be so cavalier: your calf muscles need a correct workout in order to develop.

There are two main calf muscles that you should be concerned with when performing any calf exercise.

• The Gastrocnemius extends from your knee joint to your ankle joint.  It is the primary muscle when your knee is extended.
  
• The Soleus is a wide, flat muscle that lies deep withing the calf.  It can only fully contract when your leg is bent.

Be careful with the intensity and duration of your calf exercises.

Your Gastrocnemius will benefit most from heavy weight and low reps.  If you use a slow tempo and lift enough weight to tire the gastrocnemius within 20 seconds your standing calf raise will be maximally effective.

Your Soleus needs higher reps, lower wieght and a medium velocity.  Try to pick a weight that taxes you after about 40 seconds when doing seated calf raises.

Make sure to use a full range of motion.  If you have never stretched or strengthened your calves before start flat footed, but make to sure to go all the way up and down.  Once you have prepared your calves with regular workouts and stretching sessions take the exercises to the next level,  Start with the balls of your feet raised up 2-3 inches so that your heels are below you toes at the lowest point in the exercise.  Many gyms have a special platform for this, but if your doesn't you can usually improvise.

Don't bounce: when you go down let your heels down under control.  When you go up and get to the top "squeeze past" for a moment.  Also beware, if you bend your legs during any straight leg calf exercises you are cheating.  Bending your knees in a straight leg calf press is like doing a really crappy squat because your quadriceps are doing the work.

It's very important to remember that when you do any exercise for your calf muscles you need to do them correctly. If you don't you will just be wasting your time.