Eight Minute Workout

Here ya go!

8 set, 45 seconds of work, 15 seconds of rest.  Do this circuit twice for a total of eight minutes.  Timer.

• X Climber

• Knee to Chest

• Overhead Squat

• Sprint in Place

I love you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!

-Mark

Come join us for 2 FREE weeks of women's boot camp by sending an e-mail to mark@readyaimfitness.com.  To learn more about Aim to be Fit Women's Boot Camps, visit aimfitcamp.com.

Express WOD for 2/16

Here's your timer.

• T Stabilization Plank

• Bicycle

• Mountain Climber

• Squat

• Push Up

• Sprint in Place

I love you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

Starting Tomorrow - The War On Aerobics Begins...

... But for now, you'll have to settle for the Express Workout of the Day.

You're going to do 6 minutes of continuous work, completing as many rounds as possible of these exercises:

•10 Side Lunges with Toe Touch

•15 Bicycles

•20 Mountain Climbers

Remember to start reading tomorrow - be ready to give up on aerobic exercise!

I love you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

Let's Finish the Week Strong

Here's a short, sweet workout that will help you finish the week with a bang.

Four exercises, in this order, one minute each with no rest.  Timer.

Get after it and have a great weekend!

I love you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!

-Mark

Is Exercise Your Habit Or Your Hobby?

I was telling my boot campers this morning, "If you want something to be a habit, you have to do it on the majority of days."  This means that three days, while fantastic for your health, isn't going to reap the benefits of four or five days per week.  If you really want exercise to change your life, it has to be a habit, not a hobby.  You can't waiver or stray from it, or it won't help you.

These Express Workout of the Day are one piece of the puzzle.  But there needs to be another exercise piece.  I still recommend that it be high intensity work.  This is the only way to maximize the time you spend exercising - lower intensity work just takes up more time.

On the days when you're not doing the WOD, go to the local track and do some sprints.  Sprint the straightaways and walk the turns.  Or run on a treadmill for 30 seconds at the highest speed you can go and then walk or jog for 90 seconds.  Do 5-10 all-out sprints per workout.

Now, for the WOD:

• Stagger Stance Push Up
• DB Bent Over Row
• Plank
• Knee to Chest
• Back Bridge
• Jumping Jack
• Run
• Side Step Squat

45 seconds of work, 15 seconds of rest - here's the timer.

Exercise should be a habit.  Do it 4-6 times per week and challenge yourself each and every workout - you'll be amazed at what it will do for you.

Talk to you soon.

I love you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

SUPER Express Workout

Tabatas remain my favorite exercise format for squeezing a major butt-kicking workout into a short period of time.  You'll get to do one today that should do just that.

1. T-Stabilization Push-Up

2. Jump Squat (or traditional squat if you cannot safely/successfully do jump squats)

As always, short workouts require high intensity.  Don't let fatigue make a coward of you - put maximum effort into each set.  You WILL feel tired, and you WILL want to put out less than 100% effort, but give it all you've got... it's over in four minutes!

Talk to you soon.

I love you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

January 16th Express Workout of the Day

Good morning everybody.

Here's your January 16th Express Workout of the Day.  Go to the timer page when you're ready to get after it.

• Alternating DB Press
• X Climber
• KB Squat Raise
• Back Bridge
• Plank
• Knee to Chest
• Jumping Jack
• Overhead Squat

These workouts are all short, but remember - the intensity is where these workouts are made, so don't hold back.  Get the most excellent reps you can out of each set.  No coasting - kick your butt!

Thanks to everyone who sent me e-mails with kind words in response to yesterday's post about Positive Energy.  I'm glad I was able to provide some good vibes for you.

I love you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

WOD for January 12th... one day late

Sorry for falling behind on the Workouts of the Day.  The beginning of my boot camps has taken my full focus over the course of the last several days, but the video version of the Workout of the Day will be back tomorrow.

Today, the workout is an assessment of your fitness.  We'll come back to this workout, so you'll have to write down your results.

The workout is simple.

10 Push-Ups

15 Sit-Ups (or if you can't do sit-ups, do crunches)

20 Squats

You'll do this circuit as many times as possible in five minutes.  Don't stop for any breaks, just work continuously to get off as much work as you can in that five minutes.

At the end, write down how many rounds you completed, as well as the exercise you finished on, and how many reps you completed of that exercise (ex.: 3 rounds, push-up, 7 reps).

This workout and our periodic checkups on this workout will really add value to the other Workouts of the Day.

Take care, everyone!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

WOD for January 7th

Hey Everyone,

So, here's the workout of the day for January 7th.

You'll do 10 minutes of work, completing as many sets as you can of this circuit:

-100 yard sprint (or sprint in place for 30 reps, counting only one leg)

-20 step squats (each step counts as a rep, so NOT 20 per side)

-10 overhead presses (5 per arm)

Keep going until 10 minutes has passed.  Don't let fatigue set it - keep after it for the whole 10 minutes with whatever you have in the tank!

ALSO: My new aimfitcamp.com site is up - special thanks to Boot Camper Mary Schwartz for all her hard work in getting it live.

Camps resume next week, so make sure to get in touch with me and set up your free trial ASAP!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.comm

WOD - January 5th

Welcome to the first full week of 2009 - hope everyone had a great weekend.

The workout of the day for today is two Tabatas.  A Tabata is a format where you do 8 sets of work at 20 seconds, following each set with 10 seconds of rest, for a total of four minutes.  Each Tabata lasts four minutes.

Today, you'll be doing two Tabatas.  Take a couple minutes to get some water and catch your breath in between.  You can view the timer HERE.

Tabata #1

1. T- Stabilization Push Up

2. Overhead Squat

Tabata #2

1. Oblique Sit Up/Crunch

2. Mountain Climber

As always, get after it!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

Happy New Year! WOD Video Time

Hi Everyone,

One of my goals for 2009 is to make as many videos for all my clients, newsletter subscribers and blog readers as possible.  I'm going to do my best to have a video every weekday (there will be some days this doesn't happen, but that's the template I'm going with).

Your first workout of the day for 2009 is in video format below.

Here are the exercises...

1. Push Up

2. Hip Extension

3. Sit Up/Crunch

4. X Climber

5. Squat

6. Bicycle

7. Side Lunge w/ Toe Touch

8. Jumping Jack

Each exercise once, 45 seconds of work with 15 seconds of rest.  You can download an MP3 timer for this workout here.  Once you hit play, start the first exercise - I made the track silent behind my countdown calls so you can listen to music if you wish.  After 25 seconds, you'll hear your first countdown call.  (Don't worry, an improved system for timing is coming soon!)

Happy New Year, Everyone!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

WOD

Sorry for no workout yesterday, but you can make up for it with this one...

Do as many rounds of this circuit as you can in 5 minutes:

-10 Ab Crunches or Sit Ups

-10 Push Ups

-20 Mountain Climber (count only one leg)

Then, do THIS circuit with the same instructions:

-10 Side Lunge w/ Toe Touch (each side counts as one)

-10 Squat

-20 Jumping Jack

Now get after it!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

Anybody Else Ready For This Snow To Be Gone?

Well, if nothing else, this snow gives you a great excuse to stay in, get in a workout, and let off a little steam.

Today's workout is over when you finish all the reps.  It's really straightforward...

-75 push ups

-75 sit ups (crunches if you cannot do a full sit up)

-75 squats (toe touches if you cannot do a squat)

Crank it out quick and hopefully by the time you're done, it will have started raining!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

Christmas Eve WOD

I know first-hand how many bad eating choices are made on Christmas eve.  Make sure you get in this quick workout to help burn some calories.

Tabatas...

Alternate between 20 second sets of the two exercises, taking 10 second breaks between each set.  You'll do a total of 8 sets (4 of each exercises).  At the bottom, I've included links to two online Tabata timers.

Tabata #1

1) Push-Up

2) Squat

Tabata #2

1) Bicycle

2) Jumping Jacks

If you don't know how to perform the bicycle, just do abdominal crunches instead.

Make sure you're getting after it!

Here are the links to those timers:

http://www.beach-fitness.com/tabata
http://www.speedbagforum.com/timer.html

Merry Christmas, everyone!

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

Holiday Workout of the Day (WOD)

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while, but the holidays have a way of making us scarce.  In lieu of using my blog to write about my thoughts on diet and exercise, I'm going to be using the duration of the holidays to give everyone a workout to do to keep them active during the holidays.

Each of the workouts I'm going to give will be posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Each workout will last 10 minutes of work, and including a warm up and cool down stretch, should take less than 20 minutes to finish.

Without further ado, here's your workout for today...

Do the following circuit as many times as possible in 10 minutes.  If you need to, take a quick water break at five minutes for water.

     1) 15 pushups

     2) 15 squats

     3) 15 bicycles

     4) 15 crunches

     5) 20 sprint in place (count your left knee, so you're essentially taking 40, high-knee steps in place)

The one thing you'll notice about every WOD is that they will be simple and to the point.  They are all very challenging if you work hard enough.  Remember to do a light warm up before starting and cool down stretch at the end.

Happy holidays, everyone.  I know it's tough, but take time for yourself and your health this season.

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

The Best Exercises for Rapid Fat Loss

I constantly get asked questions about the best fat loss exercises.

To make it as simple as possible, the best exercises for fat loss are the ones that involve as many muscles as possible. Both research and anecdotal evidence back me up – total body workouts are superior for fat loss.

To really increase this effect, I often use combination movements to really increase the total body effect of the exercises I select. For example, squats are one of the best exercises you can possibly do – they are second to none for leg and hip strength, as well as being excellent for fat loss. They become even better when you combine them with, say, a row or a press. Squat rows and squat presses are not only effective – they’re effective in a very short amount of time.

It’s a simple equation, really:

More muscles involved equals more calories burned equals greater fat loss in less time.

I must be honest in that I have a true love-hate relationship with the following movements I am about to share with you. Love because of the unparalleled fat-melting, muscle-building results they provide to help maximize my sexy. Hate because they break me every single workout by leaving me in tears while in a pool of my own sweat. In other words, these are not for the weak of mind, body, or soul!

Without further adieu, here is my official top 10 list of the best exercises in the world for fat loss:

Exercise #1 - Squat Row

Exercise #2 - The Swing (can be done with dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls or sandbags)

Exercise #3 - Reverse Lunge to Shoulder Press

Exercise #4 - Squat Thrust

Exercise #5 - The Chop (can be done with dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls or sandbags)

Exercise #6 - Olympic Lifting Variations: Dumbbell or Kettlebell Cleans, Snatches, High Pulls

Exercise #7 - Side Plank w/ 1-Arm Press

Exercise #8 - Mountain Climber

Exercise #9 - Med Ball Slam

Exercise #10 - Single-Leg RDL plus Row

I will be including a highlight video of many of these exercises later this week so you can include them in your repertoire.

I hope you take my expert advice and ditch the piecemeal exercises (biceps curls, triceps extensions, ab crunches, etc.) in favor of total body exercises. I guarantee you better results in less time by regularly employing these movements into your workouts – they will really be taken to the next level.

-Mark

aimfitcamp.com

Partner Up For Results

In my newsletter last week, I talked about partnering up for exercise.

Few things can make you work as hard as having someone to work with.

But there is a flip side to this.  A lot of people who think they have a "workout buddy" actually have a "conversation buddy."

If you want to workout with a partner so you have someone to talk to, then you're doing it for the wrong reason.  Be honest with yourself, are you working hard if you can carry on a conversation?  I sincerely doubt it.  And if you're not getting after it, you're going to have to workout a lot longer than you want to in order to get results out of it.

Workout with a partner so you have someone to push you.

Grab a friend and try this four-minute workout.  I recommend that your entire workout last longer than four minutes (I would use these four minutes as just one element of a full workout), but if you are really in a time crunch, four minutes can get you a really tough workout, especially when working with a partner.

One partner will be at Station A, setting the pace.  Station A is 15 pushups.  The other partner will be at Station B, which will involve running between two cones (or shoes, or sweatshirts - something to mark out the distance) spaced ten yards apart.  Both partners will be working for the entire four minutes.  While one partner is doing 15 pushups, the other will be touching as many cones as possible on the run.  Once the 15 pushups are complete, you switch places.  Keep switching stations as many times as possible (read: get after it on the run and the pushups).  Once four minutes are up, you're done - and believe me, you'll be done!

The Simple Truth

A lot of people ask me how to lose weight - A LOT.

It's pretty much why my whole industry exists.

The sad fact is that nobody wants to believe me when I give them the answers.  I tell them what it will take for them to start losing fat, and they won't do it.  Why?  Because it involves hard work and sacrifice when they wanted to hear some special secret that I, as a fitness pro, must possess.

Everyone wants results, yet few are willing to do what it takes to get them.  Their current lifestyle - the one that got them the body they're living in - is too comfortable for them to make a change.  As many times as I say it, no one wants to believe that their bodies will resist small changes.  You have to be totally bought in to making a real change.

Count calories?  Exercise vigorously?  Who wants to do that?  Well, those are the things that I GUARANTEE will get you results, so it's up to you to decide.

You can't cheat physics.  And that's all weight gain is.

It's not your genes.

It's not your busy schedule.

It's not because you had a kid.

It's not because of stress.

It's because you're storing more calories than you're burning.  What can you do about it?  Eat less, move more...

... and have a healthy weekend, everyone.

What's Your Excuse?

There's a rather crude expression that creates a simile for excuses.  Rather than repeat it here, I'll just say "everyone's got one."

I've talked a lot recently about how important goal setting is.  Without it, you have no way of answering the question I talked about Monday - WHY is your goal important to you?  If you haven't established a value for your goal, it's easy to let it be trumped.

Let me just say this as simply as possible.  There's a million reasons not to commit to your fitness goals, but only one reason you will.

There's a lot that goes into losing weight, for instance.  You can't do it if you turn your job, your family and friends, or anything else into an excuse.  Everyone's got their stuff to deal with, but only a few people make the choice to pursue their goals regardless of all the obstacles.

I never promise anyone that getting in shape is easy - I tell them it's simple.  Weight loss isn't as complex as everyone makes it out to be.  The problem is that everyone wants the result but has an excuse as to why they can't put in the work.

Set your goals well.  Answer the WHY about your goals.  The answer to that question is what you need to keep in mind when the excuses start to grow.  It will help you decide if your reason for not working out, eating right, tracking calories, etc. is a pothole turns into a sinkhole.

Think about it.

Becoming Comfortable With Exertion

Sometimes I find myself watching exercise videos or exercise shows on television, and I feel as though they all preach the same message - don't over-exert yourself.

Granted, you don't want to 'over' anything, if you can avoid it.

But we're talking about exercise here.  You should be exerting yourself - it should be really challenging.

Your muscles, including your heart, are capable of periods of very high exertion, but hardly anyone ever trains them to do it.  How can you honestly say that you have a healthy heart if it can't handle a sudden, massive demand?  That's one of the biggest triggers of heart attacks - a sudden influx of demand that your heart can't handle.  Yet no one prepares their heart for big demands.

What do we train for?

Endurance.

Why?

I haven't the faintest.

What do you think?

Why have we become a nation that exercises like distance runners, when precious few of us even care about running a marathon?

We're the only creature who 'jogs,' and we're also the fattest creatures on the planet.  Do you think it's a coincidence?  Granted, we also eat like crap, but I've got to believe that our physical activity has to shoulder some blame, does it not?

Give it some thought and let me know what you think.