Heavy Bag Training

NOPE!  I'm not talking about your traditional heavy bag 

training you might be thinking, boxing, kick-boxing, martial arts, etc.

I'm talking about a full body conditioning routine that will build overall strength and cardio all in one workout.

This past Thursday my body was STILL feeling pretty beat up from heavy lifting on Monday and Tuesday.  I typically take Wednesdays off and do recovery and mobility work.  When I went to train heavy this past Thursday my body was just not having it.

Nothing hurt, it was just the simple fact that my body wasn't responding no matter how much I pushed it to get going.

Not allowing that to deter me from a great workout I decided to pick up the Heavy Bag and get some aggression out.  Half way into the workout I decided to break out the video camera and record some of the fun drills I did.

Check out my Heavy Bag Training from this past Thursday... This one truly was a lot of FUN!

Watch it here!

Remember, you don't need a fancy gym or basement full of expensive equipment to get the job done.  I had one hell of a full body workout just by utilizing this one, old, beat up heavy bag.

No excuses right!

Get Work Done Maniacs!

Gym Comedy

Happy Friday Maniacs!

Murphy here and I'm getting ready to take Lori, Hunter and Penny to the beach for two weeks.  Yep, headed back to where I call home, Shallotte NC where we'll be spending lots of time with family, friends, the white sand and of course the gym...

What?  You think I'm going to take time off from my training - heck no!  And don't worry, I'll still be keeping in touch with you as well to help keep you on track with your fitness!

But, before I head off I wanted to share with you some great laughs.  If you're anything like me, you love stand up comedy - especially the classics like Bill Cosby, Gallagher, Abbott and Costello, you know, the greats!

However, it seems that the gym offers a lot of funny content for comics today and what I have here are some of the funniest skits about working out and the gym that I love to watch over and over and over again.

Check these out and if you have other videos that you enjoy, share them here!

ENJOY!

Justin Washington - Going to the Gym



Jim Gaffigan - Bodybuilders (my personal favorite!)



James Gregory - Gym Memberships




Stuff Women Say To Personal Trainers



Kevin Hart - The Bench Press



John Caparulo - Just for Laughs (Explicit)

June Highlights

Well, June is almost over... can you believe it?

Here at MXT it wasn't just the Summer weather that brought on the heat this month, our members at Mayhem Fitness & Cross Training really rocked it out with their hard training.

In case you missed any of it, here are some clips from this months training and special events, including the Tough Mudder and Open Gym where Lori got to practice her coaching skills.

June was truly a month that the Mayhem was UNLEASHED!

Check it out all the action and Fun times here!



Oops!  I thought I had included more clips of the Tough Mudder in here - ah well, you can see all the action from that day by clicking here!

Stay Strong, Dedicated and Focused Maniacs and...

Get Work Done!

What Weight Should I Use?

This is probably the MOST often asked question I get from the new members we train at Mayhem Fitness. 

Of course, it's a very fair question... I mean after all... they are there for RESULTS right. 

To me, choosing the right weight range to work with is just as important and critical as watching your nutrition.  You can go through the motions all day long and not get anything done OR you can challenge yourself and watch your body transform. 

I don't know about you, but I'd rather see all my hard work progress into something great so what weight should you use? 

I answer this vital question in this video here - check it out!


I hope this helps you out, especially if you're a beginner or looking to advance further in your training program.

For those of you who would like a further explanation of training percentages, keep reading...

You'll typically use this formula for your big lifts - 

• Bench Press
• Barball Squat
• Dead-Lift
• Olympic Lifts

...and so on but this can truly be applied to ANY weight bearing exercise that you want to improve on.

You'll start with your 1 Rep Max (1RM).  This is the Max weight you can handle for 1 Rep.  We really don't do 1 rep maxes at MXT but here is a cool calculation you can use that will determine your 1 Rep Max by plugging in your most recent weight and reps you accomplished.

Weight x Reps x .0333 + Weight = 1RM (this is courtesy of Jim Wendler and his 5/3/1 strength program).

So, for example.  If I did 225 on the barbell squat for 5 reps my max would be 262 pounds.  225 x 5 = 1125 x .0333 = 37.4625 + 225 = 262

Now, to help me advance in the squat, get stronger and ultimately burn more calories (as I said in the video, the more intensity you continue to add, the higher you boost your metabolic rate) I would use this formula.

262 x 60%  = 157 pounds - 10-12 reps
262 x 70% = 183 pounds -  6-10 reps
262 x 80% = 210 pounds (rounded up) 3-8 reps
262 x 90% = 236 pounds (rounded up) 3-5 reps

Working the lighter weights I would stay within the higher rep ranges of 10-12 and as I advance up in weight, my rep count would drop as low as 3-5 reps.

This system of using percentages and rep ranges is called pyramiding and is a great way to continue to excel your fitness program without just guessing your way through or wondering, what weight should I use.  Hence, another reason why its so vital to keep a journal.

It's important to understand as well that you won't always see your strength numbers go up every workout.  In general, it can be anywhere from 3 to 10 workouts, depending on the exercise.

Your strength can be affected by a number of things including the amount of time that has lapsed from the same muscle training, how much sleep you got the night before, your nutrition, etc.

Again, increasing your weight is only 1 way to add more intensity to your training.  For more tips, check out my post here on 5 Ways To Increase Your Intensity.

Use this information in your program Maniacs and... 

GET WORK DONE!

Men, Muscle and Mayhem - Chest Day

So yesterday, Josh and I hit Chest with a little vengeance.  After doing the Tough Mudder on the 14th I suffered a bit of a shoulder impingement - luckily it wasn't anything that one trip to my Chiropractor couldn't fix but it did make me miss my chest workout last week.

This week I was ready to UNLEASH the MAYHEM on my chest.

I'm changing up my training protocol just a bit to get myself more conditioned for competitions, but I don't want to lose any strength, in fact, I need to keep building my strength up as much as possible.

So I'm doing a little Hybrid Training by mixing it up with Powerlifting, Bodybuilding and Conditioning all in one workout.

I know I'll get a lot of questions about this style of training, you can't really focus on all of that at once, can you?

Joe Defranco would even say, there is a time for Strength and then a time for Conditioning and I agree 100% so most of my focus right now is still on raw power, however, throwing in a bit of bodybuilding and conditioning with this method will continue to take me to the next level in my training.

Today we hit Chest so I started with 5 sets of 5 on the Bench Press for overall Strength.

From there I moved onto 2 Bodybuilding cycles - 1st being the Incline Bench for four sets of 10 / 8 / 6 / 15 reps.  Then finished off with Decline Flyes for 3 sets of 10.

Finally, I hit 8 rounds TABATA Burpees making sure I got full range of motion with my Push-ups for my conditioning.  This workout took just under an hour to complete (including a 10 minute warmup) and it felt great to be up under the Barbell again.

Josh mixed it up a bit utilizing the War Machines for Cable Cross Overs (nope, can't do that on TRX) and hitting some Decline Bench work today.

Check out these video clips of Josh and I Getting Work Done!

5 KILLER Upper Body Exercises For a KILLER Summer Body

WOW!  Does the weekend move fast sometimes or what?  Here it is  Monday morning already and I am pumped up and excited to do work.

This past week I received an email from one of our Mayhem Maniacs who wanted some ideas on some great upper body strength training exercises that they could do from home.

With that said I wanted to give you some great tips to get your week off to a great start!

Here are my TOP 5 Killer Exercises for a Killer Summer Body!

1. Rope Climb / Pull-ups / Inverted Rows - Ok, I know Pull-ups aren’t doable yet for everyone so I have some different progressions until you can get your feet off the ground and body up to new heights.  Lets start with the lessor of these 3 exercises (although still very challenging) The Inverted Row.  You can use the Kitchen table or throw a strong rope around a low hanging branch of a tree in your yard.  Perform this exercise by getting up under your table and pulling your chest up as seen in the pic below.  From here you can move into the Assisted Rope Climb.  Essentially the same movement as the inverted row, you’ll start by lying flat on the ground and grasping the rope.  You’ll climb the rope hand over hand until you are almost in a full standing position.  Keeping your feet in contact with the ground at all times reverse the movement by walking hand over hand back down till your laying flat on the ground again.  Both of these exercises are great for beginners who can’t get their first pull-up yet or struggle to climb a rope.  
   
2. Push-ups - These are the most basic of all upper body pressing movements however many times folks get them wrong.  To execute the perfect pushup make sure you keep a tight core.  This means from the base of your neck all the way down to your heels you have one solid, straight line and from your chin all the way to the toes, same thing.  No bowing in the back, no sagging in the stomach.  Keep your elbows slightly back instead of flared out to the sides to protect your shoulders and come all the way down till your triceps (back of the arms), upper back and floor all make one parallel line.  Another tip you can do is place a tennis ball under your chest and come all the way down till your chest hits the ball, then back up to full extension.  Its ok to keep the elbows soft at the top and not lock them out.  I actually prefer this as to not put unnecessary pressure on the elbow joints.  You can hit many different variations of the push-up to keep up the challenge.  Choose from regular, close grip, wide grip, spider crawl, burpee, bear crawl, box, explosive, weighted, etc  - Check out this video of our members hitting different pushup challenges.  
3. Odd Object Throw - This one is as basic as it sounds but a heck of a lot of fun and will build tremendous strength and give you a great metabolic conditioning workout as well (cardio to burn fat!)  Execute this movement by finding any large, heavy object (Big Rocks, Bricks, Concrete Blocks, Weighted Medicine Ball, Sandbag, Even a Dumbbell) pick it up off the ground and heave it as far as you can with a variation of different throws.  Try doing this for time.  2-4 minutes will do the trick here :D
4. Sledge Hammer Chops / Split Wood - Sometimes, the ol’ fashioned household chores growing up were the best workouts I have ever done.  Splitting and sawing wood was definitely one of those winter chores that I never looked forward to because it was HARD WORK!  Dad would do most of the splitting but my brother and I would carry and stack the wood into nice piles to burn later in the wood stove.  If you don’t have firewood to cut, get out a heavy sledgehammer and “chop wood” by hitting it into an old tire.  The heavier the hammer, the better the workout :D
5. Farmer Carry - One of my all time favorite movements that’s pretty much the Ultimate in a Strength and Conditioning exercise.  Not only will you test your entire bodies strength and endurance from your grip, to forearms, biceps, shoulders, traps, upper back, core and even legs but you’ll also be huffing and puffing trying to manage the weight for more distance or time.  Of course once you get good at a certain weight, its time to take it up or increase your distance, time, etc.  Simply grab 2 heavy objects in your hands and start walking.  Keep your body as tall as you can (think tall spine) and try not to drop.  Don’t need anything expensive here, just grab a couple of 5 Gallon buckets and fill them with water or sand.  They’ll get the job done!

So there you go.  5 Great Upper body (and really full body) drills you can do at home with things you already have laying around.

Try these exercises on this week and let me know how you do!

Get Work Done!

Burn More Fat with Circuit Cycling!

Circuit Cycling - Get The Pump and Burn Fat With This Creatively FUN Routine

Happy Friday Gang...

Let me tell ya, after yesterday’s HOT and humid weather I sure am LOVING today at a nice and cool 78 degrees.  The gym’s A/C never stopped running yesterday and couldn’t get the temperature below 85, UGH.

It truly is nice when you can have the garage doors open and get one heck of a killer workout in :D

Speaking of which, I’d like to introduce you to a system that I implement from time to time that delivers quite a punch in your Fat Burning efforts.

I like to throw Circuit Cycling into the mix whenever I need a little bit of a lighter lifting day but still keep the intensity up.  This is something that I started doing years ago and I always get a great pump, my heart racing and my fat crying with this routine.

What is Circuit Cycling.

Circuit Cycling is something I developed many years ago and have used with personal training clients to help get them results stripping off fat and building a lean, toned body in as little as 30 minutes each session.

Simply put, its moving from one exercise to the next with little to no rest - like circuit training...

But not exactly... You see, I have a bit of a problem with traditional circuits.

You see, most times Circuits are targeted and used as a great Fat Burning workout, the problem is that they can be treated too much like cardio instead of focusing on muscular overload.

Often times traditional circuits take too long to get back to a particular muscle group, especially if you’re doing full body.

This allows too much rest time and in doing so the muscles never get broken down so once your workout is over, the body doesn’t burn any more fat.  

And if you’ve been training more than 3 months, you’re actually lucky if you burn any fat at all during a traditional circuit training workout.

Its like Boot Camp classes - once your body adapts to the training, it no longer needs to adjust to what you’re doing.  You NEED to constantly challenge the body with higher intensity.  If you want even more ideas on how to add more intensity to your workouts, read this Blog post here.

While Circuit training burns calories and possibly fat when your exercising Circuit Cycling training allows for Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) to occur.  

Simply put, this means you’ll BURN FAT long after finishing your workout due to an elevated metabolism.

NOTE: Lifting Heavy is the best way for this process to occur, however, there are those times when heavy just isn’t cutting it and your body needs a little break from it.  That’s where Circuit Cycling comes into play.

Here’s How To Implement Circuit Cycling

Decide what muscle groups and exercises you are going to use during your training.  

You’ll definitely want to pre-plan these workouts and its best if you can set everything up before getting started to keep your rest intervals short and your training intense.  

If that’s not an option because of the gym you train at, use your set up time as your rest time and keep working with a purpose!

For today’s example I’m going to use a Full Body Routine with 5 different exercises.

Each exercise will be complete with 3 working sets for a total of 15 working sets in this training session.

Exercises performed will be:

• Pull-ups
• Barbell Front Squats
• Push-ups
• Inverted Rows
• Sprinter Step Ups

Start with the first exercise for desired amount of reps, rest 15-45 Seconds and repeat again immediately followed by the next exercise on your list.  

In this case after your second set of Pull-ups you’ll hit your first set of Front Squats.  Rest again 15-45 seconds and repeat starting with your third and final set of Pull-ups, your second set of Front Squats and now your first set of Push-ups.

Every time you complete your third and final set of an exercise, the first set of the next exercise on the list is added.  Complete this pattern until you finish off with 3 full sets of the final exercise.

NOTE: Your final exercise will be completed alone with its final set.

As you can see, you can still get a great full body Circuit without allowing the muscles to rest for too long between the working sets which will promote more strength and EPOC to occur!

So what rep range should you use?

For Body weight exercises I recommend Sub-Max effort with each working set, leaving a little left in the tank at completion.  With weight bearing exercises such as the Front Squats listed here, stay within the 6-12 rep range.

Listen, if 12 is too easy or if you’re going 12 plus reps, increase your weight and get serious about RESULTS!

Is Spongebob Sandbagging here?

There is a HUGE difference between completing desired reps and going through the motions!

You can most definitely work with heavier weight and rep ranges of 3-5 reps so experiment with what works for you and have fun applying this routine in your next training session.

Get Work Done!