More and more, we are seeing a constant flood of useless fitness tools flowing into stores. I walk through and find it amusing, often picking up a gimmicky item and fumble around with it. Can someone please tell me, why they think buying a thigh master will get them the results they need? Now don't get me wrong, Suzanne Somers is doing something to look youthful, but its not the thigh master she's promoting. Also, there are a lot of great tools out there, that are practical, effective, and logical. I'm not saying everything on the market is ridiculous, just the get fit quick, celebrity endorsed, change your life with 5 mins a day, crap that fills up late night television spots.
Let's take a look at some of the bazaar stuff people will pay money for before they just get up and do some sort of movement:
1. Oh... Body by Jake. Thanks Jake, but if I wanted a bloated, old body builders physique, I would have my grandpa train me... Oh wait, he cant stand up straight any more because of "wear and tear" thanks to those workouts. Just take a look at this thing...is it some sort of sex swing? What motion am I doing, how is it benefiting me? When am I ever using this movement in life? You sit in a chair and repeat a push pull motion with your arms. All while you watch TV. Sigh. (http://moultonkettlebell.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-question-that-i-had-made-me-think.html)
2. Here is a fine example of how unnecessary this equipment can be. "The Perfect Push Up!"...Uhhh what? Is this real life? I agree that there should be modifications made to accommodate those with poor form. But this tool, is doing nothing of the sort. If you want to get fit doing push ups, and using body weight exercises, then awesome! But educate yourself on how to properly perform the exercises before you go buying something that you think is making you look like the guy in the ad.
3. This one just ices the cake! This is newer to the market, and is just as mysterious as the rest. "THE RACK!" is designed to give you a full body workout, even if you are wearing camo cargo shorts! I want you to look at your grandmas walker that guy is holding, then look at him. Do you really think curling that light weight rack will get you to where he is? If you could ask this young man, how did you obtain such a level a fitness and physique? I would guarantee he would tell you, hard work, long hours, dedication, and air tight nutrition. Do you think his response would be, "All I did was 10 mins a day on this bad boy"...absolutely not.
If you are ready to change your life, your body, and keep those changes forever...then its time to commit to the lifestyle. Create your goals, begin motivating others, and understand that we don't live forever. So why shorten that time with bad habits that ultimately leave you in front of the mirror, holding your belly, feeling depressed. Let's work together to dedicate, push, drive, never give up, to reach what we want, then share that with the people we love and respect!
So here is your plan. Four steps, movements, and exercises that will get you the summer body (aka abs) that you want so bad:
1. Drop the donut and put your hands where I can see them. If you want see a serious change in your gut and butt, then ditch the sugar. Before we get into carbs vs fats, and when to eat. Before you hire a dietician to write you a meal plan that has high failure rate. Just try to ditch any processed or added sugar in your weekly foods. Nutrition is king, and as you've heard before, "Six Packs are made in the kitchen".
2. Swing like you mean it! Kettlebell swings are not only a strength developer, but they increase power and endurance. For men, swings with a 24kg bell will get the job done, and women a 16kg bell. If you are unsure how to properly swing a kettlebell refer to strongfirst.com/instructors to locate the closes SFG instructor. But be prepared... to have a whole new outlook on strength and conditioning. The 300 swing per day routine is easily available for you online. Or look up a program by Dan John (10,000 swing challenge)
3. Pretend you're being chased. Ok, seriously. Start adding in one sprint day each week. Find a hill to run, a local track, stadium stairs, any field, and start doing fast bursts of energy expenditure. We all want to lace up and start running 5k and further. But look at the body of a long distance runner and the body of a sprinter. Which would you rather have? Start off with 10 flat sprints with even work:rest ratio, then add in hills and adjust the work:rest ratio to keep your conditioning challenged.
4. Make movement your foundation. Spend one day each week focuses largely on mobility and flexibility. It is so overlooked in our routines that we don't realize the impact it makes. Start spending one day per week really overcoming shoulder, hip, ankle mobility issues, and start to train better stabilization of the shoulders, hips, spinal, knees, ankles, arches... pretty much everywhere. Otherwise we are just slowly tying ourselves into a knot. Then you really will need grandma's walker!
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