10 Minutes to Fitness

You see them at the gym every day. Men and women on a cardio machine for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes or more. They might be reading, listening to their iPod or just daydreaming while they pedal or walk at a steady pace. How boring, and worse than that- how unproductive.
The only good thing is that they are moving rather than sitting on the couch.

They could gain a higher level of fitness, and health in just 10 minutes if this time was spent better.

Here is a plan for you to try - 10 minutes to strength and fitness. Give this plan 5 or 6 weeks to work for you.. You can choose to alternate body areas daily for 4 to 6 days a week, or do two days of split upper and lower body work then rest.
___________________________________________________________________________

Start with whatever cardio you are comfortable with. I choose a stationary cycle. You could walk..or run,

Warm up for 30 seconds to 1 minute at a comfortable pace. At the 30 second mark, go all out as fast and hard as you can for another 30 seconds.  Then drop back to the slow steady pace for 30 additional seconds. Rinse and repeat.
Once you have done this 4 time in total...STOP. You have just used the first 4 minutes of workout time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now go to your strength training...Machines, dumbbells, free weights, cables WHATEVER you like.
Start with a moderate weight to warm up the muscle. For example on a chest press machine - do about 8 reps at moderate weight to get blood flowing into the muscles.

Then raise the weight significantly. For me I start with 70-80 lbs, then go to 130-140. ( 140 is my body weight)

Now do as many reps as you can until you simply cannot do one more rep. This should be only 4-6 reps. If you can do more the weight is too light.

Then move onto another machine or movement. If you were on the chest press, go to a shoulder machine or movement. Do the same sequence.
Continue onto other exercises until you have used up about 5 minutes of steady work.

Now go to the  shower!
This 10 minute plan will force your body to evolve and create muscle, eliminate fat and increase cardio fitness.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One caveat- here it comes; you must eat right... Lower carbs, preferably little or no grains or sugar. Eat whatever you like that is not highly processed and as close to fresh food as you can. Vegetables, meats, fruits, dairy with full fat.

Remember to Monitor your progress, and raise the weight whenever it becomes too light...

Tell us how you do on this program.

Any workouts you do are at your own risk and we assume no responsibility for your safety. Use common sense and caution when starting any new program.

A great warm up

 A great exercise for a quick warm up or a short workout is the HINDU SQUAT.
Not sure why it is called this, but there are also Hindu pushups to go along with these.

These squats warm up and strengthen the legs and help with balance problems.
You perform them like this-

Stand straight with your back a few inches from a wall. Rise on your toes as you squat down with your arms just behind you. The wall will add some security to the balance part of this exercise.
Also if you lightly touch your fingers to the wall it will help you go down straight and increase your balance.

Do not do these if you suffer from bad knees. Instead only go down partially until you are comfortable with a deeper squat.

No weight are necessary, rather aim for 12-15 reps to start, then go for as many as you can.

In the Hindu pushup you do a floor push up, but as you go down you move forward on your hands into an arched stretch, the curve backwards as you go up. This adds an extra challenge to the pushup. Start with your butt up higher than you normally would.

Combine these two moves for a great quick work out. You will be surprised at the results.

In this video there re modified versions of these two moves..

A Happy New Year

So many people make a resolution to work out in the new year. I see it every year at the gym. January is crowded, with lots of new members. They slowly disappear in February and by March the same old crowd is there with very few exceptions.

Don't make a resolution you can't keep! It takes 30 days of working out to make it a habit and to start to see some results. Keep going for at least 30 days and you will develop the will and desire to continue.

Once you really start to see some positive changes in your body you will never want to stop.

I started at age 15 and still doing it with little time off for 50 years now!

Sure I take a break whenever I feel like it. Rest is necessary and time away for a week or two can be invigorating. But I always get back to the weights. At 66 I can still say it is well worth the effort.

Go for it!!

Here I am at age 63.... no body builder. just staying in shape

Photo taken at the Dead Sea

Cable Training

A great alternative to the barbells and dumbells are to be found in almost any gym. Cables.
An example of using these is to substitute for bench presses, which are very hard on the shoulders.
Use a reasonable weight that you can do 10 reps with. Set the cables at chest height or a little above, and pull in to the center of your chest while crossing your hands when they meet.

This is a fine pectoral builder.

You can do overhead presses, curls, rowing, shoulder raises, and more with cables.

Try this to get out of any rut you might be in with your workout.

Change is good.

Do it Right

I am amazed at how many people I see at the gym who simply have it wrong. They are banging away on exercise equipment without the clue for how to use to correctly.
For example, doing leg raise on parallel bar type equipment. Slamming their legs up and down fast.
Really you should be raising knees to chest or doing an "L" slowly then dropping the legs back slowly afterwards.

This is just one example where you will minimize the benefits you get and make yourself frustrated.

Go for slow, smooth movements that maximize the muscle use and engage it fully.

Fixing sore muscles

If you work out hard enough sooner or later you will be sore. A little soreness in the muscles is good as it tells you that you have done your job well.
To build muscle you must tear it down a bit first, then in the rebuilding process it becomes stringer and possible larger as well.

To treat sore areas, people have applied heat or ice. Rested, raised the affected area..and so on.

It is advisable however to get moving again, get the blood flowing back into that area and help the body heal though it's own process.

Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation  does work but is slow and can be avoided by...well read this article and see.
Inflammation which causes the soreness, is a natural event that has healing closely behind it.

Maybe you have never done this

If you have never strength trained and wan to start. Great.
This is a good move for anyone.

You can begin by using your body weight to strengthen the muscles.
An example- Curl your arms up pretending that you are raising a weight. Feel the tension in the arm muscles, don't strain.

Just apply tension and relax, then do it again. After 10 or so repetitions you should start to feel the muscle swell up and maybe tighten a bit.

Do the opposite move, push down be bending from the elbow to tighten the tricep in the back of your arm..

Next push up your arms as if lifting a weight overhead. You should feel this in your shoulders.

These moves will start your training. Later you can replace them with lifting actual weights. Body tension exercises work!
 See information on Charles Atlas. This was from his Dynamic tension routine.