Calisthenics Workout!

Calisthenics are exercises that use your bodyweight for resistance and are designed to strengthen and tone your muscles and increase muscular endurance. 

While many trainers dismiss calisthenics as only being suitable for beginners or the less fit, I always believe that this type of no-frills exercise can be a valuable addition to just about any training program for absolutely EVERYONE!

The Benefits of Calisthenics

Bodyweight exercises such as lunges, press ups, jumping jacks, squats and step ups can be performed just about anywhere. This means that you never need to miss a workout just because you are unable to make it to the gym. Also, because calisthenic exercises require no setting up time, you can transition from one exercise to the next quickly and easily which makes your workout effective and efficient.

Calisthenic exercises teach you to master your own body. They teach coordination, balance, proprioception and self awareness. Unlike resistance machines that guides your movements, performing bodyweight exercises effectively means you must control your limbs and maintain proper body position. 

It’s very easy to adjust the difficulty of calisthenic exercises according to your fitness and strength levels. For example, a press up can be as easy as a wall press up with your body only slightly angled to very demanding – such as a handstand press up. No additional equipment is required – simply change your body position. 

Calisthenic exercises are easy on your joints. Exercises such as leg extensions and machine chest presses are safe enough but for some exercisers, these movements can be hard on your joints. If you have a long history of hard training or are over forty and beginning to experience the onset of joint pain, calisthenic exercises are one of the best ways to keep your joints moving while minimizing any discomfort. As many martial artists and ex-military personnel have proven, callisthenic exercises are suitable for older exercisers looking to maintain a high level of fitness despite worn joints.

Size & Strength?

There have been a good many articles on Prison training that I have seen in the past couple of years, that all seem to incorporate calisthenics. Its true that cons have a lot of time to spare in prison and often a lot of them crack on with their training with limited equipment. On 3 square meals a day you should see some of their strength stats! It just goes to prove that you don’t need to be lifting heavy to make serious strength or muscular size gains. 

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The Message Is Simple...

"WAKE UP WITH DETERMINATION, GO TO BED WITH SATISFACTION".

"PUSH YOURSELF EVERY DAY BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO IT FOR YOU".

"THINK POSITIVE & POSITIVE THINGS WILL HAPPEN".

"LIFE BEGINS AT THE END OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE".

"IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW SLOWLY YOU GO AS LONG AS YOU DON'T STOP".

"NOTHING GOOD EVER CAME EASY".

Lift Weight To Lose Weight

Not only does this make a "catchy title" but it also makes perfect sense. Strength training for both genders is a sure fire way to achieve a lean muscular physique......

Numerous studies have demonstrated conclusively that strength training, in conjunction with good nutrition, burns fat much more effectively than dieting alone and dieting in conjunction with aerobic exercise. What no study has shown yet is exactly how.

This much is known: Aerobic activity burns fat while you’re exercising, but anaerobic (meaning without oxygen) activity burns fat in the minutes, hours and days following exercise, as your body recovers from your workout. Compare the energy costs of the two activities during a workout session, as many studies have done in the past, and aerobic activity appears to burn more fat, which may explain why many health and fitness professionals still recommend it.

But if you add up the fat burned by the two activities during and after exercise — including what’s burned between sets during the workout itself — anaerobic activity comes out ahead. Way ahead!

Several factors contribute to this. An exerciser consumes additional oxygen in the hours and days following a strength-training session (a phenomenon known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC), and that accounts for some of the difference. Simply put, you burn more calories and keep your metabolism elevated when you use more oxygen. The muscles of a strength-trained athlete also remain slightly contracted (meaning they’re still firing) for several hours after working out, which adds fuel to the metabolic furnace. And it’s likely that the fat-burning effect of an anaerobic workout is cumulative, so that with each successive set, you burn incrementally more fat, leading to a kind of fat-burning jackpot at the end of your workout.





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Lower Body Beginner Workout

This workout for lean legs combines the best of the best thigh slimming exercises so that you can take an active approach to leaning out the lower body.

Built specifically to help people get slimmer thighs, the mix of light resistance strength training and Pilates moves are the perfect exercises for building long, lean muscles in the legs.

Why this combination of exercises slims thighs:

Low Resistance, high rep bodyweight exercises
The exercises in this workout are the best for leaning out the legs because they consist of bodyweight callisthenics that don’t actually require moving the entire body’s weight.

The more weight that you put on a muscle, the stronger it will get and the more mass it will attain. Do realize that even with this muscle mannerism, women do not naturally have the hormones to “bulk up”. Building lean muscle will actually make it easier to stay at a healthy bodyweight, which in turn makes it easier to get a lean lower body; don't avoid building muscle!

Pliates exercise that slims thighs:

This lower body workout is also filled with Pilates exercises that incorporate stretching and toning movements at the same time, which is in part what develops the “long and lean” look. Pilates exercises keep the muscles constantly flexed, and they tend to use a much fuller range of motion than regular strength training moves. Aside from toning muscles and increasing flexibility, Pilates also enhances body awareness (which muscles are inflexible, what body parts and movements are limited in range of motion, etc), which can lead to a wealth of other health benefits.

How often should you do this routine? 

To get slimmer thighs, do this lower body workout 3-4 times a week, always with at least one day of rest in between. How often you do this routine should really depend on whether or not you are sore after you've done it; for example, if you do this workout on a Monday and are still sore on a Wednesday, you may want to wait another 24 hours for those muscles to heal more completely. In all reality this routine is light enough in resistance that you shouldn't need more than 48 hours before you are ready to do it again, but do be aware of how you feel, especially after the first time you've tried it.

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Complete Fat Burning Workout

Aim to keep blood sugar levels steady with the tips below and you will experience better energy, mood, fewer cravings and more satisfaction from meals. 

1. Do Not Drink Fruit Juices.

A healthy glass of OJ each morning- no way! Fresh squeezed orange juice including the fibre from the pulp would be my preference. The glycemic index rating for oranges is moderate while orange juice is sky high partially due to added sugars put in juices. Remember the glycemic index determines blood sugar and insulin levels. This is the first thing I pull out of any diet especially if there are juvenile behaviour problems. Use real fruits for your nutrient needs and remember to include avocados and grapefruit which both fit well in most fat loss plans.

2. Eliminate the Consumption of Refined Foods

Most acknowledge that refined foods such as bread, pasta, packaged baked goods, cereal etc support the storage of body fat. Do not be fooled by whole wheat bread, pita's, tortillas and other products that also contained enriched flour. In many cases these items are the same as their white counter parts with some added colouring.

 3. Amino Load before and after exercise

Amino Loading is a term we use to describe the combination of 100 % MR and Muscle Synthesis which efficiently deliver crucial amino acids in a rapid fashion. Consumed before training this unique combo forces the body to use more stored fat as fuel during exercise while also helping the trainee to shift to a more anabolic (fat burning) hormonal environment. During and after training amino acids provide an alternative energy source to support improved training performance (especially important during a low carb diet) and lay the building blocks needed for new muscle growth. Following training your first priority should be accelerating recovery and Amino Loading provides the critical ratios of amino acids needed to be quickly assimilated into hungry muscles. A protein shake post workout alone does not do the job, during training you pump blood into the muscles to act as a nutrient super highway to carry in raw materials. Drinking a shake following training will draw blood away from the muscles and into the stomach to support digestion which deteriorates much of the raw material value and slows down the delivery of nutrients.

Timing is critical and there is no time to spare post workout. 100% MR and Muscle Synthesis rapidly deliver the raw materials needed as they bypass digestion and get right into the blood stream to take advantage of the hormonal and metabolic conditions created by training. 

4. Do not use bars of any kind as meal replacements when trying to maximize fat loss.

Bars have come a long way when it comes to taste, but they are nothing more than high protein candy bars. They are a great tool for gaining weight or every once in a while when you are in a pinch. Otherwise do not use them, be aware that this “net impact carbs” and other labelling tricks are a scam. Companies have replaced sugar with other sweeteners which do not count as carbs on the label. As a result you end up with a bar “low in carbs” but sky high in sweeteners that will cause more havoc with insulin levels than real sugar. I have yet to find a bar high enough in fibre and low in sweeteners to allow people to lose body fat when eaten regularly.

5. Do not replace solid food meals with shakes and never consume a shake without fibre as your first meal of the day.

I understand people are very busy in the mornings, but eating a proper breakfast meal is vital. The body has been starving overnight and must have real food which provides a basis of nutrients and fibre. Without fibre your blood sugar will go haywire. Furthermore do not rely on shakes for every meal. I am amazed to see people in my office eating one food meal and 5 shakes per day. 

People wonder why they cannot lose body fat; their blood sugar levels are out of control! Consume at least three solid food meals per day. Mixed nuts are a great protein shake alternative as they are high in good fats, proteins and have adequate fibre content. Eat natural fruit as alternatives to sugary snacks, try to eat regularly every 3 hours and always concentrate on portion size.

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You know that you want to look and feel fitter and healthier. 

You know that you will feel better after a workout, yet you just can't bridge the gap between lying on the sofa, thinking about exercise and actually doing it. "Knowing what is good for you and wanting to do it is, alone, not sufficient to make sustainable behaviour changes," says Dr Falko Sniehotta, a psychologist at the University of Aberdeen. "The proverb, 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions', is backed up by science. There is often a substantial gap between our intentions and our behaviour."

The problem for many of us is that exercise is not a habit or routine but an obligation or a chore and for that reason is readily pushed off the agenda. "The hard part about getting fit is starting," says Amelia Watts, an exercise coach. "Once you get into a rhythm of regular exercise, it becomes a habit and you just get on with it." A study from the University of Alberta found just that: people who exercise regularly don't spend time weighing up the pros and cons of a workout.

It also helps if the activities you choose are easily accessible. Sniehotta says: "Planning is one of the most important strategies in instigating behaviour change. Planning in advance and in detail when, where and how you will exercise, and implementing coping plans (how to deal with setbacks and obstacles, such as bad weather) will increase the chances of successful behaviour change." Simple strategies, such as laying out your running kit or packing the gym bag the night before, can help. Some studies have shown that people who exercise in the morning are more likely to stick at it than those who leave it till later in the day, when there has been plenty of time to talk themselves out of it. Plus a recent study by Glasgow University found that morning exercise enhances mood 30% more than evening exertion. Exercise at any time of day, though, is better than none, and consistency is important. "Try to schedule your workouts for the same time each day,' says Dr Costas Karageorghis, reader in sport psychology at Brunel University. "We are creatures of habit and having a regular routine is important."

Stimulation and variety also help. "Working out on your own all the time is not a recipe for success," says Karageorghis. "A training partner fulfils a basic human need for socialisation."

One study at the University of Florida found that exercisers who repeated the same workout over and over were more likely to quit than people who rotated three varied workouts each week. "The gym can be a very sterile environment," says Karageorghis. "If yours is part of a chain offering nationwide access, why not visit a different branch occasionally, for a change of scene?" he says.

Watts suggests: "Cycle one of your running routes. Go to an open-air pool instead of the indoor one. Drive somewhere beautiful to run or use a machine you've never used before at the gym."

While you may not have your sights set on a marathon, it is still important to set goals. "A goal doesn't have to be a race or reaching a specific weight," says Watts. "It could be to complete three workouts a week." Writing goals down to record how you progress is a useful strategy. Watts also suggests recording evidence to show how your body changes as you get more fit: taking measurements, for example, or even photographs.

 Top Tips To Boost Your Motivation

 Make a deal with yourself to do 10 minutes and you will probably end up completing a full workout.

Get your kit on Get up or go home and put on your workout clothes. Once they are on, you'll feel you may as well make use of them.

Psych yourself up Listening to uplifting music before and during exercise can be beneficial.

A workout buddy gives you a moral obligation to turn up, introduces an element of rivalry to push you harder and offers feedback, support and fun.

Focus only on the moment and before you know it, you'll be cooling down.

 Visualisation is a very powerful mental strategy, but be careful. "If you see yourself sprawled on the sofa, feeling guilty about not being at the gym, your mind will take on board those negative feelings," says exercise coach Amelia Watts. "Better to visualise yourself exercising and feeling good. See yourself on the home stretch of a run - imagine how good you feel, what you might hear, smell and see when you put your key in the door."

Bribe yourself, set yourself rewards for achieving goals & targets along the way.








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