Posterior Reach and Trunk Rotation Superset (Staying In Shape While You’re Away Series)
This is a posterior reach superset with a trunk rotation using band tubing. This helps to develop your rectus abdominis and internal and external obliques. Most people are accustomed to hearing this called your core region.
During the posterior reach I am basically letting the cables pull me back from a neutral position with arms overhead as if I were to attempt to do a back handspring. As I am doing this I bend my knees and shoot them forward to release any extra tension on my lower back and then I return to a neutral position while keeping my arms straight throughout the whole movement. Contrary to popular belief, the main function of the rectus abdominis is not to flex your spine (e.g. crunches) but to prevent hyperextension which is basically what a posterior reach is. Although crunches are great in developing your abs, the posterior reach has more functional value. During the trunk rotation I am basically rotating my upper torso while trying to keep my pelvis neutral. As you see it is a short range of motion but more than enough to get those internal and external obliques.
Squat and RDL Superset (Staying In Shape While You’re Away Series)
This is a squat superset with an RDL (romanian deadlift) using a super band. The squat is a knee dominant movement emphasizing more of the quadricep area while still developing glutes, hamstrings, and calf muscles while the RDL is a hip dominant movement mainly emphasizing the glutes and hamstring area. While one may think that these two exercise basically develop the same muscles, as a movement these two exercise are very different especially when one starts progressing the RDL into a a full on deadlift. Not only are these movement performed differently but both are fundamental movements we use in every day life.
During the squat I am basically bending both my hips and knees at the same rate and lowering myself to a comfortable position while still trying to keep my back neutral. During the RDL, I start off with my knees slightly bent and basically hinge at my hips and displace my pelvis backward while keeping my back neutral. A common mistake many people do is to actually keep the pelvis where it is and just bend forward. Although they are still hinging at the hip, their center of gravity is being displaced forward which is why many people will probably complain about feeling it mostly in their lower back muscles when doing it this way. By shifting your center of gravity forward you turn it into more of a good morning exercise.
Bent Over Pulldown and Shoulder Press Superset (Staying In Shape While You’re Away Series)
This is a bent over pulldown superset with a standing shoulder press using band tubing and a super band. This helps develop both your vertical pulling muscles (back, biceps) and vertical pushing muscles (shoulders, triceps) respectively.
During the pulldown I am bent over with my back straight and my hips displaced back. During the shoulder press my stance is shoulder width, although this may vary depending on how much tension you desire, and I am taking a shoulder width grip for the actual press.
Chest Press and Row Superset (Staying In Shape While You’re Away Series)
This is a standing band chest press superset with a standing band row. Here I have 1 leg forward and switch legs mid set for a total of 10 reps for each leg. This helps develop both your horizontal pushing muscles (chest, anterior shoulders, triceps) and horizontal pulling muscles (back, posterior shoulder, biceps) respectively.
Ultimate Fat-Shedding, Calorie-Burning Thanksgiving Workout Part 2
Hi Everyone,
As promised here is Part 2 of our Thanksgiving special. If you haven’t had a chance to read Part 1, read it now. Otherwise here are the workouts:
Option 1 (Traditional Cardio)
You will choice your cardio modality of choice (e.g. treadmill, elliptical, cross-trainer, spin-bike).
Warm Up 10 min (Should feel like a 6 out of 10, 10 being extremely difficult)
Sprint 1 min (10 out of 10)
Slow down 1 min (7 out of 10)
Sprint 1 min (10 out of 10)
Slow down 1 min (7 out of 10)
Sprint 1 min (10 out of 10)
Slow down 1 min (7 out of 10)
Hills/High Resistance 1 min (10 out of 10)
Slow down 2 min (7 out of 10)
Hills/High Resistance 1 min (10 out of 10)
Slow down 2 min (7 out of 10)
Hills/High Resistance 1 min (10 out of 10)
Slow down 2 min (7 out of 10)
Cool down 10 min (5 out of 10)
Total Time: 35 min
Option 2 (Free-weight based)
You will choose a weight that you can normally shoulder press for 10 reps for the following two groups.
Thrusters (front squat into a shoulder press)
3 sets of 8 repetitions; 45sec rest between sets
Complex (the following exercises will be performed for 6 reps one after the other with no rest)
6 sets total; 1min rest between complexes
Romanian Deadlift
Bent Over Row
Power Cleans
Push Press
Front Squat
Tabata protocol
The following exercise will be performed for 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest and repeated 8 times for a total of 4 min
Squat Thrust (This is when you drop down into a push up position and then immediately pop right back up)
Option 3 (This is for the hardcore warriors out there)
You will perform Option 2 first. When you are finished. Rest 5 min and then go right into Option 1. Good Luck!
There you have it. Whichever one you decide to choose, this NYC personal trainer guarantees you that your body will be in a fat-burning state for the rest of your Thanksgiving Day. I warn you that this is not for the feint of heart. These are really challenging workouts and if you finish it with a lot of steam left then you didn’t go hard enough or heavy enough. You are suppose to feel quite exhausted when you are done.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone and enjoy!
Ultimate Fat-Shedding, Calorie-Burning Thanksgiving Workout Part 1
Thanksgiving Day is upon us and with it football, family, friends, and FOOD! As promised this NYC personal trainer is going to provide you with the ultimate fat-shedding, calorie-burning, so you can enjoy your Thanksgiving Day food workout. Warning, this is not for the faint of heart!
There are two interval-based workouts I will provide in an upcoming post but know that you only need to perform one. Option 1 is for those who do not enjoy your standard cardio (jogging, running, elliptical, spinning, etc) and would much rather hit the weights while Option 2 is for those of you who do enjoy traditional cardio. The idea behind these two workouts is to take advantage of what exercise physiologists call EPOC which stands for excess post oxygen consumption. I know I know… What in the world is that?
EPOC, in layman’s term, basically has to do with the amount of extra oxygen you are taking in after your workout above what you normally would take in if you were to not work out at all. The reason for this EPOC, simply put, has to do with recovery. This extra oxygen is used in processes such as replenishment of fuel stores, hormone balancing, cellular repair, innervation, and anabolism (build-up). All of these processes have one thing in common… They require energy.
When we are no longer working out or are resting, the predominant fuel source to provide this energy is… You got it, fat. A second fuel source will be carbohydrates. The reason carbohydrates is not the predominant fuel source at rest is because your body would much rather use that when it needs energy to perform moderate to strenuous work such as exercise. So the harder you exercise, the more your body needs to recover. The more your body needs to repair and recover, the more fat is needed to fuel these processes. The more fat needed also means the more fat burned!
So, on Thanksgiving Day, if you decide to indulge, your best bet is to probably get in one of these workouts so that all that food you eat will be put to good use instead of it sitting around in your belly waiting to be converted to fat. If you decide not to indulge, then guess what? That’s right, you will be burning more fat on top of what you decide to eat.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post when I will provide you with the actual workouts.
