So Nash and I have been doing this “push/pull” workout for about five weeks now I would say. For those of you not familiar with it, we basically took two opposite body parts (chest and back or biceps and triceps for example) and worked them both on the same day. Not only that, but we would do two exercises at the same time, kind of like circuit training. As soon as I finished a set of bench, I would go into a row exercise for a set, and then right back for another set on the bench etc. until the first two exercises were done. At that point we would move on to the second pair of exercises. Read the rest of this entry »

Let me start out by saying that I hate running. Unfortunately I’ve always seen running/cardio as a necessary evil when trying to lose weight and get toned, so a couple times a week I’ll do 20-30 minutes of cardio, whether it be treadmill, elliptical, whatever.

The one thing I have been able to tolerate over the years however has been sprinting. I’ve been playing soccer and skiing for the majority of my life, so I’ve always been a decent short distance runner, but I still hate running distances with a passion. Luckily sprinting is a great way to get in shape, even better than distance running I would argue. Read the rest of this entry »

So a lot of people don’t realize this and they really take it for granted, but getting enough water is a huge deal when working out or trying to lose weight. One of the first things to understand is that the body can’t retain unlimited amounts of water, so drinking a ton of water all at once just isn’t gunna cut it, you need to space out your consumption throughout the day. The standard amount you should drink is eight glasses a day. If you sweat and workout then you should of course drink more to replace what you’ve lost. Another way to measure how much you should be drinking is to take your body weight in pounds and multiply that by .55. So for example, I weigh 172lbs x .55 = 95 ounces of water per day. Additionally, don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink, by then you’re already dehydrated and performance will decline. Read the rest of this entry »

A lot more goes into a proper bench press lift than a lot of people realize. One of the most common mistakes that I see is how far apart people place their hands on the bar. People will do a full bench workout and their triceps or shoulders will be more tired than their chest. The reason for this is most likely where they are putting their hands.

Ideal Grip: To get the best pure chest workout on a bench press, do a few practice reps just with the bar. A basic rule of thumb is that you want your hands to be placed so that when your triceps are parallel to the ground, you have a 90 degree angle at your elbow. Another way to get your ideal distance is to get into your body’s natural pushup position and measure the distance between your hands. Your body usually knows what works best and will automatically put itself in the most efficient position.

Feel free to lower beyond this 90 degree angle when lifting, it’s just a reference point for hand placement.

Variations: A lot of people either place their hands too close or too far apart. The close grip works your inner pecs and puts a huge load on your triceps and the wide grip emphasizes the shoulders. Most people lose some weight on their max bench if they have their hands too close/far.

I’m not saying the close and wide grips aren’t legitimate techniques. They’re actually very useful for building up the shoulder and tricep muscles necessary to improve your bench press, but they’re not helping you if you don’t know what you’re doing or why you’re doing it.

Just as one last tip, even if you are trying to work your shoulders/outer pecs, I wouldn’t go too too far past shoulde width on the grip and if you do be careful with the weight. If you’re not careful it can really wreck your shoulders.

One of my claims to fame in our little workout group is I have great breathing techniques…..yea…..go me. But in reality proper breathing is important in all forms of physical activity and a lot of people either aren’t aware of that fact, or just don’t take the time to train themselves to breathe properly.

Proper Breathing While Running

The proper breathe in/breathe out ratio while running is 3:2. What this means is that you should be fully filling your lungs in three strides, and then fully exhaling in your next two strides. You might need to slow your pace for a while to get the timing down. What this does is get more oxygen to your muscles, which will lower your heart rate, and it also pushes all of the carbon dioxide out of your body. If you’re taking short, quick gasps for air, then you’re increasing the carbon dioxide in your system and this will increase your heart rate and lactic acid production, which in turn decreases your endurance. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re an avid weight lifter then chances are you’ve reached that point where you feel like you’re killing yourself in the gym (over training), going as hard or harder than you’ve ever gone before and somehow you’re just not seeing the desired results.

I feel your pain, I’ve been there on more than one occasion. If this is happening to you, then you’ve most likely been doing the same workout for too long.

Realistically it’s probably a good idea to be changing your routine up every month in order to get optimal results. I don’t change that often even though I should, the problem is I find a workout/routine that I like and just want to keep doing it.

On the same token though I really like feeling that burn during the workout and the soreness the next day. If you’re like me and you want to keep doing tough weight training workouts with similar exercises but still want to shock your muscles into shape and keep things from getting too repetitive, then read on for a few tips that I’ve found pretty enjoyable/effective. Read the rest of this entry »

No matter who you are or how strong you think you are, you can’t deny that it’s always pretty impressive when you see someone do a one-armed pushup, I’m talking about a REAL one-armed pushup. There are probably a bunch of you out there who say you can do a one-armed pushup, but really you’re twisting your back and raising your shoulder and hips and flopping all over the place and probably going down a total of 2 inches. A true one-arm pushup is a great workout though, it builds up your pecs, does a number on your triceps and shoulders, and is great to strengthen your core muscles. I personally can’t to do a good one-armed pushup, and I know I can’t, but it’s always something I’ve wanted to work on, so I found a few good exercises that will really help you build up the muscles and motions you need to do a proper one-armed pushup. For the record, it should look exactly like a perfect regular pushup, just with one arm, you can see a good example here. Read the rest of this entry »

So as promised last night Nash and I attempted the 300 rep workout and it was the hardest overall workout I’ve ever tried. Below is a video of the workout, we filmed it to show how a first attempt might look, and proper form.

The workout took us about an hour and a half and here’s my breakdown (each number represents a different set)

Pullups: 15, 6, 4

Deadlifts: 20, 15, 15

Pushups: 50

Floor Wipers: 15, 15, 10, 10

Box Jumps: 40, 10

Clean and Press: 20, 15, 15

Pullups: 12, 8, 5

Read the rest of this entry »

So I’m going to do my best to address an age old question that has plagued weight lifters for years now….how can I build muscle fast/when should I take protein? First of all I’m going to address just why whey protein is so effective.

1. Whey protein isolate, which is the purest form of whey protein, digests very quickly. This means that once you take the protein, it’ll be in your system doing its job in no time.

2. As well as being one of the fastest acting proteins, whey protein isolate is rich in Branched Chain Amino Acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine). This helps build muscle, increase endurance, and reduces muscle deterioration. These amino acids are also important because they get metabolized directly into your muscles instead of your liver like other amino acids. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome everyone to yogymbo.com, this is the one and only Jimbozo with my first ever yogymbo entry. I’m just over 5′ 8″, I weigh anywhere from 169-174 depending on the day and I’ve been working out for a while now, but only seriously for the past couple of years. I just wanted to give everyone a reference point so you know where i’m coming from before I start ranting. Read the rest of this entry »