Go for gold: Olympians train for an opportunity to go for gold. What’s your inspiration for working out? Sometimes it’s hard to see the results you want when you’re simply going through the motions. Set the bar higher for yourself by having a more concrete fitness goal. Choose a goal you can achieve in a relative short period of time to stave off boredom. Break your goal down into smaller steps you can achieve along the way. This will help keep you motivated.

Start cross-training: Olympic athletes are in peak physical condition because they cross-train. Cross-training involves incorporating several forms of exercise into your fitness routine such as yoga, running, cycling, swimming and weight training. Cross-training helps to minimize injury and reduce the risks associated with overtraining. It also helps keep things fresh—you don’t get bored always doing the same thing over and over again. More important, it’s a great way to condition different muscle groups and develop new fitness skill sets.

Build a support team: Olympians train with their team mates to become the best they can be. Having like-minded people to exercise and train with will keep you inspired and accountable to your fitness plan. Research also shows that people who tend to train in groups often push themselves further than if they train alone. A group dynamic also naturally ignites a bit of a healthy competitive spirit; an opportunity for you to tap into and realize your own potential. If you find yourself struggling with your goals, you’ve got the added bonus of having a built-in support system.

Dig deep for motivation: Even Olympic athletes have their bad days. Imagine putting everything you have on the line for four to six years just to get one shot at gold. That’s a lot of pressure. If you fail or get injured, there’s disappointment to contend with and the decision to make a comeback and try again. To succeed an Olympian must believe in their own ability and always strive for new levels of perfection, regardless of what obstacles get thrown in their path.

Adopt a winning attitude: What exactly separates elite athletes and Olympians from the rest of the pack? Research suggests a combination of the following: high motivation & commitment, an optimistic and positive perspective, positive perfectionism, a mental toughness and strong ability to focus, high stress tolerance and capacity to cope with adversity and a high degree of sports intelligence. Here’s how you can incorporate the same attributes into your own action plan to get fit.

1. Commitment: make a pledge to stay committed to your fitness goal and be persistent at accomplishing the smaller steps it takes to get there. Practice techniques that will help you stay motivated and never give up. Be open to readjusting your fitness goals if necessary in order to be successful.
2. Optimistic: Don’t beat yourself up over minor setbacks. Choose to see the glass as “half-full” rather than “half-empty” and celebrate your fitness accomplishments—even the minor ones. Stay confident in your abilities and always persevere—embrace setbacks as a learning experience and move on.
3. Ability to focus: Be mentally strong and learn to focus on your overall fitness goal. Don’t get distracted by everything else going on in your life. When things in your life get chaotic remind yourself why you’re doing this. Learn to quiet the mind through a number of mental techniques: positive self talk, visualizations, affirmations and re-framing (putting a positive spin on a negative situation).

Sports intelligence: learn as much about fitness or the sport you’re involved in as you can. If you run, read running magazines or books. Arm yourself with enough knowledge so you can learn to evaluate your own performance. This will help you learn to appreciate your strengths and work towards improving your weaknesses.

Photo Courtesy: Georgia Simmerling

There has to be an exercise that you can do that works the whole body, includes cardio, strength and core work, portable and be can be done anywhere and at any age. The exercise has to be able to be modified for each person if needed, have different levels of difficulty and be easy to learn. I believe that there is one such exercise out there that does these things. What could that be: BURPEES!

The Burpee is one kick butt exercise. Every time it is included in a workout, people let out moans and groans. Why? Because it is hard to do. No matter what condition you are in the Burpee can humble you in a matter of minutes. What makes it so hard to do?

It looks simple enough. Jump into the air, squat down, jump back the legs, do a push up touching your chest to the floor, jump the legs back up under you, jump into the air, repeat. Now do that repeatedly for 5 minutes and see for yourself.

How To Build Up Your Endurance Using Burpees

It takes incredible endurance to complete large numbers of Burpees. If currently you can’t do but only a couple at a time then you need to practice them. Every day. For 100 days in a row. It’s called the 100 day Burpee challenge and it sounds as bad as it looks. Starting on day 1, do one Burpee. Day 2, do 2 Burpees and so on. Do that for 100 days in a row. If you miss a day you need to make them up. So if you miss day 31, on day 32 you need to do 31 Burpees (to make up the missed day) and 32 for the current day. That adds up fast! Missing days in the beginning is no big deal but missing a day at day 80 would suck. So plan it out and challenge yourself to complete it. It’s only 5050 Burpees in 100 days.

12 Different Versions of The Burpee

So how do we make this exercise even harder? There are a ton of ways to modify the Burpee to increase its’ difficulty. Here is a partial list of variations of the Burpee that you can do once you have “conquered” the “easy” version:

1.     Do a broad jump instead of a jump and clap
2.     Jump on and off a box
3.     Jump over something
4.     Combine them with pull ups (Do a jumping pull up at the top)
5.     Wear a weighted vest (doing the standard version)
6.     Jump and tuck the knees to the chest
7.     Jump and turn 180 degrees
8.     Perform them with 10lb dumbbells in your hands
9.     Perform them with 10lb dumbbells in your hands and with broad jumps
10.     Perform them with one arm (including the push up!)
11.     Perform double push ups and double jumps
12.     Perform a hindu push up instead of a standard pushup

Start Including Burpees In Your Standard Workout Routine

This can be a difficult exercise to do if you have knee or shoulder problems. Build up some initial endurance by doing air squats with a little jump and push ups separately. That will help get your body used to motions used in the Burpee. But ease into it and make sure you have the correct form first.

When you are ready to do the Burpee at full speed, use it as a supplement your current workout. Add 3 sets of 10 rep after lifting weights or after your core work. Build up your reps until you can do 3 sets of 25 in a row. Then you could confidently attempt the 100 day Burpee challenge and have a good chance of finishing it. But no matter what you would be in better shape because of your consistent effort.

An effective fitness routine should include these three magic words: cardio, strength, and stretch. If any of these components is missing, then you are shortchanging your body. Take a look at the benefits of these three fitness must-haves:

1. Cardio:  Cardiovascular exercise burns calories, plain and simple. Whether you are looking to lose or maintain weight, or just cultivate a healthy heart, then cardio is your prescribed regimen. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends working out for 20-60 minutes, three to five days per week, at 65-90% of your maximum heart rate. Of course, cardio has benefits beyond the calorie burn. When you increase your heart rate, your brain releases endorphins into your bloodstream, which give you increased energy and an improved mood.

2. Strength:  Strength training stokes the fires of your metabolic furnace. When you add resistance training to your exercise regimen, you increase your body’s muscle mass, which consequently raises your resting metabolic rate. A higher resting metabolism means that you’ll burn more calories doing the same activities that you’ve always done! Strength training also builds your resistance to injury. An ACSM study found that women who lifted weights regularly for seven months were five times less likely to suffer a lower-body stress fracture than those who were less attentive to strength training.

3. Stretch:  Flexibility is vital to many sports, such as gymnastics and sprinting. But, if you haven’t done a cartwheel since second grade, then you may think that stretching isn’t necessary for you. After all, it doesn’t burn as many calories as cardiovascular exercise, nor does it tone muscles like strength training. Unfortunately, if you are neglecting the stretch portion of your workout, you may be placing your body at risk for injury. Stretching increases your range of motion for everyday tasks. The more flexible you are, the easier it will be to bend and rotate your body to pick-up crumbs from the floor or maneuver grocery bags into the car.

As you embark upon the journey of adding cardio, strength, and stretch into your workout, remember these tips.  If you can’t make it to an exercise class, don’t throw in the towel on breaking a sweat! Try a brisk walk around your neighborhood or jump rope during the commercials of your favorite show.

Begin with a 5-10 minute warm up of light cardio (walking in place, elliptical trainer, etc.)

Beginners: Perform each exercise for 1 set of 15 repetitions, resting when you need to, using enough weight that you can only complete the desired number of repetitions (15). Do this workout 2-3 times a week, taking at least one day of rest between workouts. For best results, combine this workout with regular cardio and a healthy meal plan.

1. Chest Press

Place the band under a bench (securely grounded) or ball and lie face up holding handles in each hand.  Begin with elbows bent at 90 degrees and level with shoulders, knuckles facing the ceiling.  Contract the chest to push arms up and repeat.  Repeat.

Alternate exercise: Pushups

Begin on knees or toes and wrap the band over your back, holding onto the ends with both hands flat on the floor.  Loop the band to add tension and bend elbows into pushup.

2. Unilateral Raise

Attach the band to a sturdy object or under your feet (standing).  Hold the handle in right hand and wrap the loop around hand to increase tension if needed.  Keeping arm straight (elbow slightly bent) at the side of your body, raise your arm away from your body to shoulder level.  Return to start and repeat.

3. Rear Delt Fly

Standing or sitting, hold band in the middle, arms straight out in front of you (parallel to the floor), hands several inches apart–adjust hands to change resistance.  Squeeze the shoulder blades together and pull band so that arms are out to the sides like an airplane.  Return to start and repeat, keeping tension on the band the entire time.

4. Overhead Press

Place band under ball or stand on band holding handles in both hands (neutral position, closed fist, thumbs facing the body).  Begin with arms bent at 90 degrees (upper arm from elbow to shoulder parallel to the floor), wrists straight and abs in.  Contract the shoulders to straighten arms up overhead and lower back down.  Repeat.

5. Tricep Extensions

In this version, band is attached to sturdy object at shoulder level.  Sit or stand with left side of the body facing the band and hold the band in the right hand, elbow bent to 90 degrees, forearm behind the head.  Keeping the abs tight, contract the triceps to straighten the arm.  Return to start and repeat on the other side.

6. Biceps Curls

Stand on the band and hold handles with palms facing out.  Keeping abs in and knees slightly bent, bend arms and bring palms toward shoulders in a bicep curl.  Position your feet wider for more tension.  Return to start and repeat.

7. Squats

Stand on the band with feet shoulder-width apart, keeping tension on the band by holding your closed fists in the neutral position at shoulder level.  Lower into a squat, keeping knees behind toes.  Return to start and repeat.

8. Lunges

Stand with right leg forward, left leg back and band positioned under right leg.  Keeping tension on the band, closed fists in the neutral position at shoulder level, lower into a lunge until both knees are at 90 degrees, front knee behind the toe.  Return to start and repeat.

DYNAMIC WARM-UP

Slowly warming-up the body helps prevent injuries caused by going too hard and too fast with cold, un-lubricated muscles and joints. Warm-ups vary depending on the type, duration, and intensity of activity you are going to do. It consists of a group of exercises performed immediately before the activity and provides a period of adjustment from rest to exercise. You must warm up to train, ski, or stretch.

Take extra time to perform a good warm-up on cold or windy days. Warm up until you have a light glow (sweat). This ensures that the temperature of the joints and soft tissues is increased. A good 10–15 minute warm-up will help optimize your training time. Warming up for 20–30 minutes will help contribute to your general conditioning, especially early in the season.

# 1 ASSISTED SQUATS

Assisted Squats lubricate the under surface of your knee cap (patella). With feet shoulder width apart hang onto something for balance and squat. Do sets of 10 repetitions.

#2 DONKEY KICKS

Dynamically warm-up the hip flexors and quadriceps while challenging your balance with these exercises. Stand on one leg with a slight knee bend and swing your leg front and back for 2 sets of 10 repetitions.

USE EXCELLENT FORM

While training, attention must be paid to correct form:

• Exercises should be functional and mimic ski challenges.
• Always remember the importance of good form when doing an exercise.
• Correct form includes correct breathing, exhale on exertion (no breath holding), and always switch on your core (pelvic tension) prior to any exercise.
• Ensure quality of motion using good biomechanics as opposed to quantity with less precise form.
• Using ski specific movements like squats, split squats to help improve the relaxation-contraction coordination of the joints’ prime movers and stabilizers. This will lead to more efficient movement and performance.

#3 BALANCE DRILLS

You do not need fancy equipment. Challenge balance on a 1/2 foam roll or rolled towel while bouncing the medicine ball.

Work on joint sense (proprioception) and reset the balance clock with a variety of exercises. Balance work will stimulate the complex interactions of the neuromuscular system when incorporated with closed chain and functional exercises. This is especially important after injury where there is any joint swelling and decreased proprioception.

Balance exercises should be included as part of the daily training plan as most activities

Including skiing depend on an element of coordinated balance in many planes of movement.

#4 SQUATS

Works on dynamic deceleration strength for the lower core and legs. As you squat try to control the deceleration for a count of 2 seconds down to mimic a ski turn. Start with 1-2 sets of 5-10 per side increase to 2 – 3 sets of 10 -15.

#5 SPLIT SQUATS

Keep knees tracking in line with toes. Line of gravity should go through the pelvis. Start with 1-2 sets of 10 and increase to 2 to 3 sets of 15-20

COOLDOWN

Should include some light stretches. Try stretching all muscle groups used in the strength routine. Be sure to key in on those that tend to get short and stiff like the hamstrings, hip flexors, calves and pectorals. Try holding each stretch for 30 seconds and repeat 2-3 times. Good luck in getting fit to ski!

It you’re in the first category, you’ve likely rolled your eyes a few times when someone in the second category is leaning against the machine you want to use. But don’t rush to be so judgemental – the chatterer might be onto something.

People are social creatures, and we need to interact with others for our mental well-being. Communication and human relations feed the soul, so why not get a little soul food while working out?

If you’re really not into small-talk, however, playing a competitive sport like tennis or squash as part of your exercise regime is a great way to socialize. The act of playing together allows two or more people to connect over a commonality, so you don’t need to force conversation to relate if that is out of your comfort zone.

Belonging to an athletic club that offers various amenities takes the socialization to an even more beneficial level. Families sitting around a swimming pool while the kids play and adults catch up teaches greater life lessons about human behaviour than does limiting your family’s exposure to the back yard, for instance.

People naturally want to be part of a group. They want to belong somewhere, and this is true even if your role in the group is to stay in the background and not say much.

Reach out. Connect. You need to do this for the sake of your overall health, so you might as well incorporate elements of socialization into your fitness routine. Even if you would prefer to keep your earphones in and stick to business, all it takes to connect is eye contact and a smile.

Photo Credit

1. Know what your goal is.

This seems like a simple concept.  Know what your goal is and simply do the work to achieve that goal.  Members in a gym, or people who want a change, will have a general goal.  For most, it’s “I want to lose weight.”  That is great.  You have identified your goal but aren’t specific enough.  Has someone ever given you a deadline?  Ever feel the crunch as time starts dwindling down and suddenly work harder as your deadline approaches?  As long as you’re reasonable about your timeframe, saying that I want to lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks may put that extra spark into your workout.  If you don’t put a timeframe on your goals, you may not have the urgency to try and reach them.

2. Work smart.

You have your goal.  You may have even circled it on the calendar with a red marker.  Either way, you have your time frame and are ready to do some work.  You enter the gym … and now what?  Write down what you want to do before you go to the gym.  Is it cardio and abs?  Is it arms and legs?  If you have your goal, you want a plan of attack.  When you go to the grocery store without a list you tend to by things that you don’t want.  When you go to the gym without some sort of plan, you may end up doing exercises that are irrelevant to your goal.  If you know what you are doing before you even walk in, you will work 10 times harder.  It’s good to keep the body guessing, but it’s not good to guess on what exercise to do next.

3. Focus on multiple movements before single movements.

You have your goal.  You want to write down a plan of attack.  What do you write?  More people want to lose weight than to gain it, so this plan is for you.  Let’s say you want to lose 10 pounds in six weeks and your plan of attack is to workout five days a week.  Two days will be dedicated to resistance training while the other three days dedicated to cardio.  When it comes to the resistance training, focus on your bigger muscles first then your smaller muscles.  Ideally, you would do squats before you would do hamstring curls.  Push ups before triceps pushdowns.  There are a few reasons to this.  One reason is that you don’t want your assistance muscles, the triceps in a push up and the hamstrings in a squat, to tire out before you start your big movements.  That is personal training 101.  The other reason is that you burn more calories when you do multi-joint movements.  To put this into perspective, let’s compare two exercises: Push-ups and a triceps push down.  When you break down everything that is moving in the push up, you have your shoulder, elbow and scapula doing movements.  When you add the muscles worked in those movements, you have your Pec major, Coracobrachialis, Anterior Delt, Pec Minor, Serratus Anterior, Triceps Brachii and Anconeus.  That is a lot of muscles being worked.  When you look at the triceps push down, your elbow is moving and the muscles being worked are your Triceps Brachii and Anconeus.  You don’t have to be an exercise science major to realize that when you are working more muscles, you burn more calories.  Here is a sample workout plan:

• Push Up
• Squat
• Dumbbell Row
• Lunge
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press
• Biceps Curl
• Triceps Pushdown
• Leg Curl

When you look at this, you will notice that it is starting with your multiple joint movements and working down to the single joint movements.  You can also add several moving things together.  For example, I have clients that want to lose weight but have nice arms so I will have them do a forward lunge with a biceps curl.

4. Trying to lose weight?  Focus on total body more than anything else.

Now that we understand the concept of multi-joint to single joint, let’s start to put things together.  When you arrive at the gym, your focus should be more of a total body workout as opposed to chest day, leg day etc.  Split routines have their time and place, but if your goal is to lose weight and try and lose it fast and efficiently, total body may be the way to go.  There are a few reasons to this as well. One reason is that you will get a greater hormonal response as opposed to split routines.  Your body will release greater amounts of testosterone and growth hormone.  Both hormones are important for the building of muscle and loss of fat.  The other reason to this is that with so many moving parts moving throughout, there will be more calories burned.  The body burns calories in recovery as well so when your whole is in recovery mode, you can expect more calories burned and a higher metabolism.

5. Mix up cardio.

Cardio is necessary to your goals but it is also dreaded among many people.  The goal is to mix it up.  While running for an hour straight every day will help you lose weight, it can get boring and frustrating which in turn can cause you to stop working all together.  For many clients, past and present, I have them do two different types of cardio: steady state cardio and intervals.  Let’s go back to our original example.  Your action plan is to work out five days a week with two days dedicated to resistance training and the other three dedicated to cardio.  Your schedule is set: Monday, Wednesday and Friday are cardio and Tuesday and Thursday are weights.  On Monday, you can do a steady state cardio for 20-40 minutes (or longer or shorter depending on what you can handle), Wednesday 30 minute intervals of a 1:1 – 1:3 work/rest ratio, Friday intervals for 15 minutes followed by slow steady state cardio for 15 minutes.  Intervals work by running at a high intensity for a period of time and resting for a period of time that matches your work period or slightly longer.  For example, sprinting for :30 seconds followed by :30 seconds of walking is a 1:1 work/rest ratio.  Sprinting for :30 seconds followed by :90 seconds of walking/jogging is a 1:3 work/rest ratio.  Remember that treadmills aren’t the only piece of cardio equipment.  Elliptical, stair masters, bikes and row machines are all different modes you should familiarize yourself with to prevent boredom and monotony.

These are five items that you can incorporate into your program or use it as a guide to help you get started.  If you’ve ever wondered what goes through the mind of trainers and coaches, this is a small piece into our world.  Whatever your goal is, strategize and attack!

Photo Credit

The importance of fabric quality in regards to breathability and durability is a no-brainer. Quality clothing designed for active wear is going to keep you dry, and that’s key to good performance. Some sport specific pieces even take it a step further by using body mapping to allow for better ventilation in areas that overheat.

But why, might you ask, should one pay for fashion-forward designs and flattering details when purchasing clothes in which to sweat. Because, the right tucks and ruching are going to make you look better, and looking better is going to motivate you and make you feel better. And feeling better is the whole point of pursuing an active lifestyle.

If you’re constantly worried that your ill-fitted shirt is riding up while you try to perform lat pull-downs at the gym, then you’re not going to be focused and effective. And how can you possibly perform dead lifts if every time you squeeze up, half your pants are squeezing up with you?

While at the gym, in a yoga class, or out running in your neighbourhood, you should feel confident. When you’re doing something great for your health, you should feel great in the process.

And looking good does not need to be costly. If you invest in premium materials, you will be able to get by with just a few pieces because they will last a long time. But it doesn’t all need to be technical; don’t be afraid to have fun and express yourself with the odd ruffle or gather. Again, if it makes you feel good, and it’s not harming your body (or anyone else’s), then it is in line with contributing to your overall well-being.

Functional training isn’t just a workout with medicine balls and ropes. Functional strength is strength applied to or specified for a particular activity. In functional training one is training to be a better performer in a particular sport or even a day to day activity.

For example, prenatal/postpartum workouts are tailored to help women bend to lift, carry and hold the baby with ease. Making her life easier as a new mom would be a focus of her fitness program. Functional strength training is movement focused versus muscle focused. Although it is ok to include exercises that isolate the muscles in a functional training program.

An example of a functional strength exercise is the squat press with a medicine ball. (Imagine squatting to pick something up and lifting it over your head to place it on the top shelf).

Other examples are:

1) Simply walking around with kettlebells in your hands as an exercise. (Picture carrying grocery bags).

2) Squat wood chop

3) Walking lunge

Photo Credit

- Multi-joint exercises (bench press, deadlifts, squats etc.)

- Heavy loads (85%-95% or six reps down to two reps)

- Multiple sets

- Short rest periods (under 60 seconds)

- Keep the workout under an hour to prevent a catabolic response.

- You would want to have at least two years of resistance training under your belt

Let’s assume that everything is healthy and in working order. When it comes to working out, one has several options. Without getting too fancy with exercises, here is a sample program if you like to do push/pull circuits:

1A) Bench Press

1B)  Deadlift

2A) BB Front Squat

2B) Lat-Pull Down with a pronated (overhand) grip

3A) Standing DB Shoulder Press

3B) Bent over DB Row

4A) DB Lunge

4B) Seated Cable Row with a pronated grip

Complete 1A then 1B, rest for up to 60 seconds and then repeat. Take at least 15-30 seconds to transition from A to B. You can also switch it around to keep it more as a superset circuit (Bench Press – Seated Cable Row with a pronated grip/Lat-Pull Down – Standing DB Shoulder Press etc.). When you finish 1A/B, move onto 2A/B.

Are you more of a straight set kind of person? Consider a program like this:

BB Deadlift

DB Alternating Bench Press

DB Step Up

Seated DB Shoulder Press

DB Lunge

Bent Over BB Row

DB Front Squat

Perform a set of deadlifts, rest for up to 60 seconds and then repeat. Once you finish your goal set range (4-6 sets), move onto the bench press. Even though it is a straight set workout, you can easily turn it into a circuit. If you decide to do this throughout the week, substitute the deadlift with a BB back squat towards the end of the week.

If you are like me and like compound sets, you can give this a whirl:

Chest

1) BB Bench Pres

2A) One arm DB chest press

2B) Push up with a clap

3A) Incline alternating chest press

3B) Incline push up release (perform a push up and on the way up, clear your hands off of the bench

4A) Standing cable chest press

4B) Medicine ball plyo push up (start in a push up position with the med ball underneath you and in line with your chest.  Perform a push up and as you explode on the way up, clear your hands off of the ground and have both hands land on the medicine ball.

Back/Shoulders

1) Slow pull up (slow your tempo on the way up, quicken the tempo on the way down

2A) Lat-Pull Down

2B) Seated cable row with a neutral grip

3A) BB Bent over row with an underhand grip

3B) Seated cable row with a pronated grip

4A) One arm DB Swing

4B) DB reverse fly

5) Standing DB Alternating Shoulder Press

Legs

1) BB Back Squat

2A) BB Romanian Deadlift

2B) DB Jump Squat

3A) DB Walking Lunge

3B) DB Single leg Romanian deadlift

4A) DB Step Up

4B) Split squat jumps

For all exercises, perform up to six sets up to eight reps. For the chest day, no more than eight reps per body weight exercise. For the lower body, no more than 6-8 reps for the jumps. The same concept of performance is the same as the superset routine previously explained. Don’t forget to stretch afterwards!p

Photo Credit