Inspired Journey Fitness

I just saw this thing on TV called “3 Minute Legs“.

Of all the crazy “as seen on TV” contraptions, this one takes the grand prize. For only four easy payments of $33 each, you can have your very own “3 Minute Legs”. For your hard earned cash, you’ll receive a spring loaded seat that you can straddle and push to the floor while doing bodyweight squats or lunges.

Seriously?

Squats and lunges are fantastic exercises and should be a part of almost any program. Why you would need this thing to do them is beyond me. Have we really been dumbed down so much that we need this thing when we could just do squats and lunges without it? Not sure about the right form? Watch this video to see the right way to do bodyweight squats and save yourself $122.

Their website claims that this thing “even works your core so it flattens your abs as it’s firming your legs.” Other than your core having to hold your body in an upright position, which it does when you’re just walking down the street, I can’t figure out how this thing “works your core”. Can someone please explain this one for me?

But, it’s all OK because, according to their website, “3 MINUTE LEGS is so remarkable, it was awarded the prestigious Seal of Approval by the National Health and Wellness Club”. Ever hear of this club? I didn’t think so. Neither have I. Go ahead, check them out on Google. You’ll be taken to a site that has some regurgitated content from other sources and “reviews” of products, several of them coincidentally are from the same company producing this product.

While we’re on the topic, three minutes isn’t going to do anything for you with any workout. The only thing you’ll lose on this thing in three minutes is $122.

P.S. By the way, Thane USA, your website has a context error. When referring to the supposed science behind this device you say “it uses a principal called unloading”. In this context, it’s a “principle”.

The core. That’s where it all begins. All movement begins at the core. If you’re looking to improve your daily function, your endurance, your strength, your athletic performance, train the core and you’ll make incredible gains.

There are misconceptions about the core, so let’s take a minute to straighten that out first. Many people hear “core” and immediately think of their abs. While the abs are part of the core, there’s more. The core is defined as the lumbo-pelvic hip complex and the muscles that attach to it. It’s the rectus and transversus abdominis, obliques, hip flexors, hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors, and latissimus dorsi. It’s basically the torso with exception of the extremities. Get a strong core and you’ll be able to do more.

There are many ways to train the core, but few are as efficient, as fun, as unique, and as portable as the TRX Suspension Trainer. Fitness Anywhere is always issuing new challenges to their followers, so I thought I’d put together my own challenge. I’m calling it the Core 500.

The workout is simple in terms of the number of exercises and the complexity of those exercises. There are just five exercises in this complex designed to challenge your anterior and posterior chain and engage your core throughout the workout. You’ll do all of the reps for each exercise before moving on to the next exercise. Your goal is to do the prescribed number of reps in as few sets as possible.

Here goes:

• 100 Atomic Push Ups
• 100 Low Rows (deep angle with feet under the anchor point)
• 100 TRX Chest Presses (feet under the anchor point)
• 100 TRX Power Pulls (50 per side)
• 100 TRX Rollouts

Here’s a video demonstrating the exercises in this TRX workout.

Time yourself and leave a comment below to let me know how much time it takes you to complete the workout. If you don’t have a TRX of your own yet, get one here.

Ever wonder why there are all those mirrors in fitness centers? I’m asked that question often. Some might think it’s so you can check out the guns after your fifteenth set of bicep curls. They’re really there to check your form. Making sure you’re performing an exercise with correct form both helps stay safe and makes sure you get the greatest benefit from the exercise.

Back to the first one though. The guns. The pecs. They’re the first things people see when you’re coming at them. So, most people focus their attention on them at the expense of the other muscles that can really help these muscles grow.

It’s important to train the muscles in the front of the body that you can see in the mirror as well as the ones you can’t. The posterior chain, which includes the hamstrings, glutes, and back are critical. If your posterior chain is weak, you’ll never fully develop the “mirror muscles”.

Here is a five exercise complex that will help give you a powerful posterior. Perform this routine as a circult without rest between exercises, doing the prescribed repetitions and repeat the circuit five times

• One arm dumbbell snatch – 15 repetitions per side
• Stability ball hamstring curl – 15 repetitions
• Swimmer – 30 count
• Single arm cable row – 15 per side
• Cable pullthrough – 15 repetitions
• Reverse hyperextension – 15 repetitions

Have fun! Comment here on this blog and let me know how you like the complex.

If you’re looking for some more variety for your core workout, here’s a great exercise. Be prepared though. It requires a good amount of core stability and perfoming this one correctly requires control.

I was at my daughter Rachael’s track meet the other day (she ripped it up, by the way. She won the 100m hurdles, 100m dash, high jump, and her team obliterated the competition in the 4×100 relay).

Before the middle schools in the meet took the track, the high school team was still completing their practice. There was a group of 20 or so male athletes on the infield grass. They were going through a series of conditioning drills which included lunges, squats, reverse crunches, planks, and more. Their form was terrible and they really looked like they were just going through the motions, thinking about how fast they could get through the exercises and not focusing on quality and getting the benefit from the time they spent. Especially when the coach turned his back.

One exercise really caught my attention though. The worst push ups EVER! Bodies were flopping around, middles sagging, butts up in the air. One participant was pretty tall and from a distance looked like he had a bit of muscle on his frame and he probably had the poorest form of all. His arms were moving and his chest was coming up, but the rest of his body was staying on the ground. His waist and legs never left the ground the whole time. Imagine Gumby doing a push up, how’s that for a visual?

These are high school athletes?

A couple of lessons here:

1. Focus on quality. Don’t just blast through the workout to say you’re done. Think about your goal and how the workout is getting you a step closer. If your goal is to get it over with, blowing through the workout as quick as possible so you can get back to your cell phone and catch that all-important text message, then follow the high schoolers routine. If you really want to get stronger, do it right. It doesn’t take much longer. Everything else is just a waste of time.

2. Learn do exercise properly. Maybe they didn’t know they were doing it all wrong. Maybe nobody ever worked with them to show them how to get the most from the exercise. Maybe you’ve never had that help either. If you’re not sure if you’re getting the most from your workout program, ask for help.

If you want to know the right way to do a push up, here are a couple of examples that anyone can do!

The folks at Fitness Anywhere, makers of the TRX Suspension Trainer, put out a challenge a few months ago. I took up the challenge and made it. Watch the video below!

The TRX 40/40 challenge involves doing 40 Atomic Push Ups, followed by a 1 minute rest period, and then doing 40 Low Rows. It’s a great test of upper body strength and stability. The Atomic push ups were tough, but I really had my hands full with the Low Rows. I had to rest a few times on the rows, but I never compromised my form and never touched the ground.

I’ve written about the TRX before and this won’t be the last time. It’s a phenomenla functional training tool and one that you can take anywhere. If you’d like to get your own TRX, check it out right here!

While you’re doing that, I’ll be recovering.

I hope you’re having a great Easter. I’m enjoying the day with family, but I’ll be sure to get a quick workout in too.

If you’re looking for a fun challenge, my daughters and I had fun putting this one together. Try the Cottontail Crusher, my new Easter themed workout.

There’s a video of the workout below. If you’d like to have the list of exercises and times delivered right to your e-mail, along with more free workouts in the future, just sign up below.

Happy Easter!

 

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Here’s a great exercise that engages the whole body. I’ve seen it called many things, some I can’t mention here, but we’ll call it a Goalie.

This dynamic exercise gets the whole body involved and gets your heart pumping, while also challenging your balance system. In this video, I’m using a 3kg medicine ball.

Watch the video right here!

I love functional training. I use it with all of my clients, in different ways.

Why?

Because your body works as a system, not in isolation. There’s a place for isolation exercises like bicep curls and calf raises, but when it comes down to it, are you trying to develop ripped calves or are you trying to develop an explosive jump. Most people work out because they want to do something with their bodies, like out-jump, out-run, or out-last the competition. If you’re trying to develop your body to work effectively as a system, functional training is the answer. Even if your goal isn’t athletic performance and you just want to move more effectively, functional training is important.

My hands down favorite tool for functional training is the TRX Suspension Trainer. You can use it for literaly hundreds of different exercises and get an amazing workout using just your own bodyweight. With every exercise, you’re training your core to stabilize your body as well as working the prime mover muscles to perform the exercise. As an added bonus, you can get that workout done in a shorter time because you don’t have to wander all over the gym switching weight plates, machines, etc.

I use it with grandmothers and I use it with athletes. Just a few small adjustments with your body position and each both the grandmother and the athlete get an equally effective workout.

Click here to get your TRX today!

Here’s a video with just a few examples of exercises you can do with the TRX Suspension Trainer.

Picture yourself playing bingo. I know. Kind of a bummer, isn’t it.

If you raise your arms to announce your win and they keep going, here’s an exercise that you can do to help lose those bingo wings while also strengthening the chest and engaging your core.

Try this one to banish the bingo wings!