Merry Christmas “Trees” Workout

I was watching a James Bond movie and felt motivated to grab a quick workout. What you need is a stopwatch and your body weight. I came up with this workout based on one of the workouts we do with kicks on Thai pads. The term “Christmas Trees” is where you kick the pads 1 kick, 2 kicks, 3 kicks, 4 kicks….up to 10 as fast & hard as you can, then come back down from 10 kicks, 9 kicks, 8 kicks….down to 1 kick…then switch legs…So, with that being said, I decided to do the same with 3 basic body weight exercises…Squats, push ups, & sit ups…

You will end up doing 110 reps of squats, 110 reps push ups, & 110 reps of sit ups for a grand total of 330 reps.

Go from one exercise to the next as fast as you can:  Start the stopwatch…

1 squat, 1 push up, 1 sit up…2 then 3, up to 10...Then 10 squats, 10 push ups, 10 sit ups…9 then 8, back down to 1…HAVE FUN!

I completed mine tonight in 9:30 minutes. If this is too easy…Although, I felt good, dripping sweat, muscles pumped and feeling worked, I think next time I will do jump squats, clap push ups, and probably still regular old sit ups, because I like those, or maybe some leg raises! Or maybe, I will do more than 1 round…Feel Free to do as many rounds as you want!

Try it! Be creative with your exercises/workouts! Just make sure you keep your heart rate up, it keeps you fairly winded, which…if you go from one exercise to the next without stopping, that shouldn’t be a problem. Have Fun With it!

Let me know your time when you do it!

It's Time For Change & I Am Not Talking Politics....

Today, I was sitting in carpool line waiting for my son to come out of school. The parking lot was extremely full because of the Christmas parties. Cars and people were everywhere. As I was sitting in my truck watching people come out of the school and go to their cars, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! I guess I never paid too much attention before, or maybe it was due to the excess of people walking across the parking lot than I am used to seeing, so it made me think about it more.

I was saddened to see that at least 8 out of the 10 people that walked out of the school were either overweight, obese, looked unhealthy, weak, lacking flexibility, poor posture, etc…Many were children too! I know they have to feel miserable! I have been there & I have to say, I will never be there again!

WAKE UP AMERICA!!!

WE ARE THE FATTEST NATION IN THE WORLD!!!

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!

My Outdoor Fitness Boot Camps provide the perfect combination of personal training, team building, and hard work that result in you reaching your fitness potential! Something great happens when a group of people with similar fitness goals rally around each other to conquer the day’s workout. It’s about setting personal goals and pushing your limits. It’s about taking on some competition, but remembering that it’s ultimately YOU vs.YOU!!! It’s about feeling like you would run through a wall if I asked you to. It’s about the air of confidence you feel as you carry out your day knowing that, while most of your co-workers or the general public are barreling down a path of unhealthy habits, you’ve already done, in one session, more running, pushing, jumping, pulling, and crawling than they’ll do all week! It’s about doing something for you! 

  

Unleash the athlete inside you!

 

“Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.”
-Jim Rohn

Today's Outdoor Boot Camp Workout

12-17-2010 Workout


Got started with "The Kong" and "The Ape Step." These are body weight animal movements that will work your total body and get you ready to work. If you are not familiar with these exercises, I suggest you search them on you tube and give it a try yourself. We did "The Kong" the length of 3 tennis courts and "The Ape Step" back the length of 3 tennis courts changing sides halfway through. The warm up was out of the way, so we got started with our 300 rep workout which is as follows....


The Rules:
Complete 10 Exercises As Fast As You Can, Going From One To The Next With As Little Rest As Possible:

30 Prison Squats
30 Push Ups
30 Sit Ups
30 Squat Thrusts With A Hop At The Top
30 Dips
30 Walking Lunge Steps
30 Mountain Climbers
30 Alternating Planks(Transition from plank to plank from elbows to hands)
     *A lot tougher than you'd think...
30 Double Crunches
30 High Knees(Run in place as fast as you can, bringing your knees as high as you can)

We finished this 300 Rep workout in 12 minutes...Looking forward to better/faster score next time!

Throughout the remainder of our workout, we threw in some pull ups, running/fast walk across a 6"x6" retaining wall, one leg hops up some steps, wall climbs, traveling depth jumps, hanging leg raises, and leaping over and going under some rails.

See You Monday!

You should give the 300 Reps a try and let me know what your completion time is!

Andy's Home Made Meal Replacement Drink!

Many of you are asking about the homemade meal replacement recipe that I use. Let me start off my saying it is not my recipe. I got the recipe from Mr. Bova, the creator of http://projectspartan.net/. It is his invention so give him the credit.

Version 1:

1 cup of stock (homemade is best but not necessary) already heated
1 tablespoon (I use a real spoon) of coconut oil/cream/water or olive oil
1 teaspoon of cream (sour cream) or 1 table spoon of half/half or goat milk

Mix all ingredients up and drink. Yum!



Version 2:
1 cup of tea, coffee or 100% pure coco (already heated)
1 tablespoon of coconut oil/cream/water or olive oil
1 tablespoon of half/half or goat milk

Mix all ingredients up and drink. Yum!



There you go. Homemade meal replacement drink/soup.

My New Spartan Diet by Andy Stolarik

Over the years I have been on a search for the Holy Grail of diets.  Most people are looking for something that is easy, gain magical results in a quick time frame.  This is the “American Way”- quick and easy but let’s face it, changing your body is not an easy task especially when it comes to eating.  We all know how to eat properly and the effects of eating properly however, we are lazy if it requires some kind of work.  Your body is a machine and like all machines it requires maintenance and work so nothing will rust and cease up on us.  While our body is in motion we will be able to see if anything needs to be fixed from pain, lack of sleep/over sleep, poor intake of foods and etc...

Our diets affect about 90% of our emotions, activity, personality, thoughts and how we speak to people.  When we eat right (clean), we can think better causing us to make appropriate decisions, we are nicer to people (because we are not hungry and feel better about ourselves, we will be able to communicate our thoughts clearer our colleagues, and our level of activity and ambitions will be increased.  The other 10% is how we get there.  What is our plan to put the 90% to work for us?  That is where the new Spartan Diet program comes into play.  This idea was inspired by Bova- the Spartan Warlord.  His ideas and research made it possible for me to make the Spartan Diet work (see his link on the right side of this blog).   So without any further ado:

This plan consists of 2 main meals- breakfast and dinner.  You will fill up on veggies (low carb veggies at that).  Follow this program for 3 days and on the fourth day carb-up on one meal- don’t go overboard or all this hard work will be wasted.   The carb days you will pick one meal and eat a fair portion of carbs- enough to satisfy you-preferably use breakfast as your meal.  Then throughout the day eat veggies that have medium sugar levels.    

Meal 1 – Breakfast

Protein based meal (egg, steak, grilled chicken) with some veggies or blackberries. 

Meal 2- Lunch

Eat mostly veggies with a side of protein (fish, steak, chicken)

Now lunch can be substituted with another form of food but not crap food.  You can use a meal replacement drink if you wish.  Just make sure you make it yourself.  This was also inspired by Bova. 

Meal 3- Dinner 

Eat mostly veggies again with much needed protein.  

Snacks throughout the day

Eat veggies.  You make them so you can eat them (cooked, raw, dipped- make sure you use olive oil any way you can get them down).    

The idea for this diet is to burn the already ready stored sugar in your body and coupled with an exercise plan you will burn lots of sugar which will shrink your fat cells. 

Well that’s it “My New Spartan Diet” program.  Use it over the holidays and tell me if it works for you.  Remember this is just a guideline- you can make any adjustments necessary to fit your needs.

Play Time!!!

Andy having a little FUN!!!

Andy's Update! (New Workout) by Andrew Stolarik

In my last post I mentioned that I would give you a month long adventure using your body weight to gain strength and muscle mass. However, this program like many others won’t give you results unless you eat clean and fast at least once or twice a month to get all of the toxins out of your body. For those of you who enjoyed the last workout, this one will be as equally challenging. It’s a bodybuilding inspired workout. The format is split up into three days and rest between each day, however it’s only a guide feel free to adjust the reps and sets to make it harder or easier.

Day1- Chest

Push ups 4 sets of 25
Decline (feet elevated) push ups-3 sets of 25 [change the number of reps each set]
Chin-ups- 4 sets of max
Incline push-ups with hands close together and elbows tucked to your side 4 sets of 25
Body weight triceps extensions 3 sets of 10

Day2 –Legs

Full Squats 5 sets of 50
Bodyweight Hamstring curls 4 sets of 10
Calf raises two feet- 3 sets of 30
Single leg calf raises- 3 sets of 30 each leg

Day3 -Back and Shoulders

Hyperextensions- 5 sets of 25
Bodyweight rows (inverted pull-ups) 4 sets of 25
Pull-ups 3 sets of max
Bodyweight shrugs between chairs or just shrug 3 sets of 50
Handstand push-ups or V-pushups- 4 sets of 10
Arm raises (front and side) 3 sets of 25 each way front and side

This routine should help you to get through the holidays.

Congratulations Ronnie Vaughn!

High Octane Member, Ronnie Vaughn competed this weekend in Adel, GA. He won first place in his division with 385 lbs. lift, but missed the 405 lbs. by one inch. His son placed third with 305 lbs. lift weighing in at 198 lbs. (I believe).

Home Gym

Home Gym

by Andrew Stolarik

In the last couple of years there has been a change in the way people think and how we move.  This change has caused several major businesses to close. However, it also opened up opportunities for other individuals.  This change might be due to economics, differential exercises, or being fed up with the “meat market” environment.  Who knows?  Everyone has their reasons. I do know that home based workouts are becoming more and more popular.  That’s right! People are leaving their local gym and working out at home more.  The gyms are recognizing the turn of thought and desperately trying to find new ways form them to keep their business going.   

People are changing their workouts to fit their environment (where they live).  They are doing more home base workouts instead of going to a full equipped machine rooted gym.  Home-gyms are popping up everywhere from garages, local parks, back/front yards, empty warehouses, roof tops, and even in woodland area.  One of the most popular forms of workouts are body weight routines.  In my opinion, body weight routines are a true test of functional and practical strength.  Being able to carry someone a quarter mile up hill, able to sprint through brush, or able to crawl on hands and knees while carrying my children is more practical than trying to over head press 300 lbs or benching 500 lbs.  Don’t get me wrong, lifting weights does have its place in functional strength but at certain times that strength and bulkiness (some people are) can really hinder you.  Crawling on all fours while carrying someone in my arms or on my back could save lives.  I can call upon that strength easier than using my weightlifting strength.

With weights you can only move in a certain linear motion, however, using your own body weight your movement is limitless.  The only limit is your imagination.  Here is my proposal to you- drop your weights and leave them behind for one month.  If you’re not stronger, leaner, and more creative than go back to your weights, like I said before, lifting weights is not a bad thing but you do become depended upon other things.  Be free, train free, free of all hindrances.  Get out doors, get dirty, and fill your lungs of clean, bountiful air.  Eat animals, plants and drink from the source of Mother Nature’s liquids (referring to lean proteins, fruits/veggies, and juice/water).  So once you get your mind of the gutter, here is a challenge workout (modify as needed):

5 rounds (sets) of:

Bear crawl 1 lap around your front or back yard (make the lap worth the energy)

25 push ups

25 squats (any type your choice again make it worth the energy)

25 full sit ups

By the end of this you should feel pretty good about your self.  Next time I will give a whole routine that will last for one month. 

Goal Setting!

Setting goals is one of the most important aspects of a fitness program. Heck, in life period, but we will stick to fitness training...You need both short term & long term goals. Focus on the short term goals First. It sets the path for achievement & keeps your mind right!

For Example:
You want to lose 30 lbs. This is your long term goal. Now take that goal and chop it down. Short Term: Let's say you weigh 200 lbs. Set yourself up for reaching a feasible goal. This week lose 2 lbs. Set an exact date to reach this goal. Today is October 20, 2010...Say to yourself, "On October 27, 2010, I will weigh 198 lbs." Notice, you are not going to say, "Next week I "want" to weigh 198 lbs." You are saying you WILL weigh 198 lbs. next week. You have to claim it. You must see yourself reaching your goal before you get there physically. After you reach that one, set the next one!  A quote from Zig Zigler..."If you want to reach a goal, you must "see the reaching" in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal."  You see it? Now, start taking action to achieve it. Clean up your eating & get moving!

Try this workout today. Rules: 10 body weight exercises, 30 reps each. Move from one exercise to the next with as little rest as possible. However, if you find that it's difficult to complete 30 straight reps of any exercise, do as many as you can, move on to the next & come back to that exercise to finish the required reps. Keep in mind though, that you are capable of doing more than you think you can! Good Luck & Have Fun! Remember, there is nothing that you can not do & nothing to keep you from reaching your goals!

Work Out!
1. 30 squats
2. 30 push ups
3. 30 sit ups
4. 30 half burpees (or full burpees, if you got it like that )
5. 30 dips
6. 30 alternating jump lunges
7. 30 mountain climbers
8. 30 alternating planks (plank from hands to elbows, repeat)
9. 30 double crunches
10. 30 high knees ( like running in place)

*By the way* If you end up with better results on you short term goal, then it's a bonus!