If any of you follow football, then you most likely know a thing or two about the NFL combine workout. For those of you who don’t, there is a portion of the workout where the players are asked to bench press 225lbs as many times in a row as they can. In talking to a couple of people I know who either play, have played, or are involved in football, I was given the idea of actually incorporating this into a real workout. It’s a very complicated process so pay close attention….you lift 225lbs as many times as you can…..then you rest and do it three more times ha. Read the rest of this entry »

In case you couldn’t tell, a certain yogymbo writer who shall remain anonymous (there are only two of us by the way) really likes forearms. I find this interesting because he in fact has a girlfriend, but that’s for another post. Anyhow, I figured I’d write a little something about a body part that I’m more of a fan of than Nash, and that would be your trapezius muscles. Now I’m not saying I want to have those massive roid traps that engulf your entire neck, but it’s a muscle that I feel like you can get some nice definition with and I think they just look pretty cool. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

If you couldn’t tell from any of my previous articles, or my “about me” page, then let me say it again.

I have a constant goal to gain muscle mass

This past summer, I decided to look for a new workout program which focused in gaining lean mass. I found HST, which stands for Hypertrophy-Specific Training (which essentially means muscle growing training).

While this workout may be prime for gaining mass, it can not do it alone. Just like drinking protein without lifting weights will not add muscle, exercising without consuming more calories than you burn will not add muscle.

This is simple math, and the basics of nutrition.

Therefore, if your goal is to gain muscle, your first step (assuming you’re already on some type of workout regiment) should be ensuring that you have a proper diet. This means you’re hitting all your nutritional requirements, and consuming more calories then you burn. I may sound like a broken record, but its the bottom line. You are what you eat, and if you don’t eat enough, you won’t get any bigger.

Read on to learn all about HST. Read the rest of this entry »

There are a lot of great activities you can do to get some awesome exercise outside of the gym. My favorite is rock climbing.

Some gym’s have “endless walls,” and some gyms are rock climbing gyms. Both of these can be great alternatives to rock climbing outside.

I’ve always been a big advocate for the theory that, if you spent all day rock climbing, or swimming, or anything else that intense, you would get ripped.

Rock climbing works the following muscles groups at a minimum: Wrists, Forearms, Shoulders, Biceps, Back, Legs, and Abdominals. It’s essentially a full body workout, and is both aerobic and anaerobic. This means rock climbing can be used for strength training, toning, and cardiovascular activity. It will also greatly improve your endurance.

According to healthatoz.com:

“Ascending a natural or artificial rock wall burns up to 700 calories an hour if you weigh 140 pounds or up to 974 calories an hour if you weigh 190 pounds. Rock-climbing sessions tend to last at least two or three hours. However, due to its great intensity and physical demand, duration is more limited than most activities.”

If you plan on rock climbing any time soon, continue reading on to see some great exercises which can prepare you.
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 »

Everybody wants “10 minute abs” but lets be serious, thats stupid. Working out and exercise in general isn’t supposed to be easy, otherwise they’d call it baby-time. Abs are an interesting muscle, and they really don’t need that much work, because if any fat is covering them, you’re really not going to be able to see them anyway.

Generally speaking, bodyfat levels need to drop below 10% for a man and 15% for a woman for the abs to really show through. (MuscleMedia)

However, if you still want to try and give your abs the best work out of all time (which will make them more defined, and hits upon ALL sections of your abs, you should try this workout. As a warning, I’ve never met anyone who was able to do this on their first try, so if you do, let me know.

The workout I’ll be showing you is referred to as the “ab bootcamp” and is written by Muscle Media, read on to see instructions and my personal spin on the workout for even greater efficiency. 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 »