Working Man Fitness

Prevent Identity Theft and Get Strong at the Same Time

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Studies show that humans don’t really multitask, they merely rapidly switch their attention from one activity to another.

I’m about to present a method to help you multitask your fitness and your finances—for free!

Do This While Your Shower Water Warms Up to Get Stronger

In Pavel Tsatsouline’s book, Power to The People-Russian Strength Training Secrets, he explains that strength comes from the nervous system—not from just creating bigger muscles.

Strength is an important attribute to have. You don’t need to be able to lift a truck, but a requisite amount of strength, above and beyond what you need on a daily basis, is beneficial. Read the rest of this entry »

Top 7 Reasons to Get a Kettlebell

• Weight loss - Kettlebell training is intense, when done correctly. Work up to five minutes of snatches, doing as many reps as you can, and you’ll kick your metabolism into gear, lose weight, gain strength, and improve your wind. That means, next time you’re chasing your boss done in the office, you’ll catch him.
• Develop several attributes at once - People are in the habit of separating their training – cardio, strength, flexibility – all kept separate. Combine them for more effectiveness. Kettlebell windmills improve your shoulder and hamstring flexibility while improving strength in the same areas. Snatches give you better cardio than 30 minutes on the treadmill ever will—and they strengthen your back, hamstrings, shoulders, biceps, forearms, neck, and hands.
• Have a handheld gym – You can take your kettlebell anywhere. If you want to work out at a park and get some sun at the same time, now you can! Try that with your barbell or your treadmill.
• Develop strength where it counts – Kettlebells work the entire backside of the body. This is the area most neglected by nearly everyone. People like to train the front of the body because that is what people see. But the back of the body is the foundation for your power and strength. I’m not saying you have to have bulging muscles, but more strength and power in the back of your body means you can move your couch without worrying about being laid up for a week and having to see the chiropractor.
• Forget about isolation, try integration – Kettlebells don’t isolate your muscles—they integrate them. Instead of doing three different shoulder exercises and several different tricep exercises, do the kettlebell military press. It helps to engage more muscles than a regular dumbbell.
• Develop hand strength – Hand strength is important for so many reasons. One, you’ll be able to get those jars open more easily. Two, you won’t give weak handshakes. Three, strong hands make you stronger all over. I’m not saying you have to have strong hands for some vainglorious attempt at manhood, but that it’s far preferable to having weak hands and traditional exercises barely scratch the surface of hand strength.
• Exercise in less time – Kettlebells help you move seamlessly between exercises that work several different muscles and several different aspects of fitness at once. The result is you get in shape faster.

Sometimes, you have to look like this after a workout

You may get the impression from reading this blog that working out should be easy and that you should just make sure you are exercising routinely.

True, exercising routinely is a good way to begin to get in shape. But there are times when you have to push yourself. There are times when you have to learn to dig deep inside yourself and go past the point of being comfortable.

Those times are when instead of calling it exercise, or a workout, you call it training.

Sometimes, you have to look like this after a workout:

Read the rest of this entry »

Stop Doing So Many Repetitions!

“How many reps should I do?” a faithful client asked me.

“Three,” I replied, waiting for his protests.

“Just three! Shouldn’t I be doing 10?”

Looking back, it’s easy to see where mistakes were made. When I was doing upwards of 30 reps per exercise, I can tell you confidently, I was making a mistake. Read the rest of this entry »

You are CEO of Your Body

It’s easy to complain about how things are run at work, in the country, even in your home.

But before criticizing others, we should take a hard look at how we manage the one thing we have total control over (unless you’re in prison)–what we take in to our body.

Here’s a list of food and drink you probably know isn’t healthful, but indulge in anyway: Read the rest of this entry »

Office Worker Addiction: Coffee

My Toastmasters mentor always reminds our club that confession is good for the soul. So I’ll say it: I have a coffee addiction.

It’s not like I drink a pot a day—I just like to have one coffee a day. But I really like to have that cup of coffee! And I like to have it in the morning.

I find that my vision isn’t as acute until after I have some coffee. Sometimes even a bowel movement seems elusive until the coffee fix.

My one cup of coffee per day isn’t even a huge cup. It’s just a small cup, but it’s that one cup! Hell, I’ll look forward to the morning’s coffee the evening before I even have it. Are you like that?

As someone with what is labeled an “addictive personality,” I’m very aware of the things I’m addicted to. As a writer and observer, I’m also very aware of what other people are addicted to. Read the rest of this entry »

Getting Back to Basics – Fitness We Need, Not Want

This video was taken in 2006 when I paid for training from Steve Cotter and have never worked harder in my life. Read the rest of this entry »

Training for Softball – A Kettlebell Approach

To train for sports, in general, train movement patterns with resistance (e.g. squat, deadlift, press above head, push up, row) and train the actual movements from the sport, as well.

Training for Softball

Kettlebell Swings – trains all the muscles of the back side of the body and your stomach in one movement. Coordinates your muscles to work in unison while displaying strength. Helps you improve the coordination of your strength so you can access more of your muscle potential.

Develops your endurance so you can last longer and have more pep for quick-burst situations. Develops your grip for getting a batter handle on the bat. Passing the kettlebell from hand to hand and flipping it can develop your concentration and hand eye coordination.

Kettlebell swings build your hamstring and help you reduce the risk of a hamstring pull.

Kettlebell Snatches – Great for building stamina and total body explosiveness. Makes your tendons stronger. Teaches you how to flex your entire body in wave so you can express yourself in a whip-like fashion to generate more power in things like throwing, punching, sprinting, etc.

Kettlebell Military press – gives all round strength and stability to the shoulder area. When done correctly by using an active negative pull (see The Side Road to the One Arm Pullup), you can work your entire upper body.

Then, devote time to the actual sport activity itself. You can simulate sprinting the bases, swinging the bat, and it’s fun to get someone to play catch with. Maybe they can throw you some pop flys, too, if you’re an outfielder.

That’s a pretty simple approach.

Add in some breathing and stretching to complete the relaxation component of your training. Maybe some visualization if you’re good at it. Let’s time that out so you can see how long it would take:

• Swing: 3 sets of 10 (total time 5 minutes, including rest between sets)
• Snatch: 2 sets of 15 (total time 5 minutes, including rest between sets)
• Press: 3 sets of 3 (total time 5 minutes, including rest between sets)

• Breathing: 1 minute
• Stretching: 10 minutes
• Visualization: 5 minutes

Total time: 31 minutes

Not bad.

A warning about kettlebells. Learn how to use them properly. Treat them seriously. I think they are a huge shortcut to superior training, but as such, they demand that you treat them as a practice. Practice your sets. A few well-executed swings are all you need at first. Once you feel comfortable, then up the reps.

Losing Weight is as Hard as Gaining

In 2004, I had a weight problem. I consulted coaches, the Internet, bought expensive supplements from GNC, modified my training, ate more food, nothing seemed to work. Until I heard about Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks.

I gained about 20 in under 4 weeks. It wasn’t easy. You need extra calories to gain weight so I drank a gallon of milk a day. Then, to stimulate muscle growth, two times a week I did 20 reps of squats, adding five pounds to the bar each session. I ended up doing 20 reps at 225.

It was the first (and only) time in my life that I weighed 200 pounds. Then I tore my pec bench pressing. I stopped drinking the gallon of milk and quickly lost the20 pounds I gained.

Gaining weight is hard! It takes discipline. Consistency. You have to consistently eat more than you need. Are you doing that? If the numbers don’t lie, there’s a chance you are. Maybe not gaining 20 pounds a month, but 5 or 10 pounds per year, year after year.

Don’t worry, just start eating less. It takes awhile to gain weight, so accept that it will take some time to lose it.

Here’s some tips:
Eat in accordance to what you need

I’m amazed the hunger that office workers develop from just sitting at their desk. I bet that you eat the same amount of food after walking four miles as you do after sitting four hours. For what reason? Habit? Cravings?

Try this. See how little food you need to function properly. You’ll have hunger pangs at first, but those will go away. Treat it as an experiment to determine what you actually need. Not what you want. By the way, in case you weren’t aware, digestion takes energy.

That’s why people who fast, once they clear all the garbage out of their body, report incredible levels of energy. Eating more than you need only taxes your body and diverts energy from more worthwhile pursuits.

Eat less and move more to lose weight
I haven’t ever trained anyone who honestly ate less food and moved more and took care of themselves and didn’t lose weight. It just doesn’t happen. Moving more is as simple as walking 30 minutes to an hour per day.

Realize that most of what you eat isn’t food

Potato chips? Not food. Ice cream? Not food. Lucky Charms? Not food. They could save themselves a lot of trouble and instead of printing up a fancy looking nutrition label with calories and fat and cholesterol and all that just writing None.