Not Just For Girls

I run a fitness BOOTCAMP. We have based it loosely on crossfit style training.
It's a crazy work-out. I often use the WOD's (work out of the day) for my cardio intervals. It's no joke. I'm often beaten to a sweatty pulp and feeling my muscles screaming from head to toe.

If these work-outs can kick my ass and make my muscles burn why is it that the average male gym rat turns up his nose at our bootcamps?

Lately there has been more and more guys trying it and loving it. They get leaner and build muscle at the same time. Let's face it, the average guy primarily wants to look better with his shirt off, and that's exactly what getting leaner and building muscle does.

These BootCamps are not just for the ladies!

They will kick your ass guys, I gaurantee it.

I think a men's night is in order. An introduction to the best goddamn 45 minutes of training you will ever find.

I can't wait to see the look of dispair and the change of attitudes after the first men's night.


Does this work-out look like it's "too easy for a man" or "only for women" ???



So....are you ready to try my BOOTCAMP now?

Indestructable Ankles

I was talking with a client about how trashed her ankles are from years of playing basketball and it reminded me about this great video that was recently posted on Defranco's Training systems.

Enjoy!

A New President

So, all the hoopla and hype will finally come to an end and the americans will find out over the next 4 years if they chose the right man for the job. Unless you've been living in a basement gym you're probably aware that the U.S. presidential election was yesterday. And even here in Canada it seems as if the campaigning has been going on for at least the last 2 years.



Well, I'm glad its over.



Here's a great work-out plan if you are in a hurry and have nothing but yourself and a few feet of floor space.

Burpees X 10
Push-ups X 20
Sit-ups X 30
Body Squats X 40
Jumping Jacks X 50

Here's a sample of good Burpees


Try and do 3 sets without any rest between exercises.
If you really want to test your mettle do 3 sets with no rest at all.

To make this interesting lets see who can do 3 sets the fastest. Video your work-out and email it to me. paul@ultimatefitnessgyms.com

The winner will get a free UF serious about strength T-shirt.

Show me some speed kids.

How to "Make time"

I've always felt pretty strongly that if you don't have time to do something, then it simply isn't as important to you as you may think.

I got asked again yesterday, how I ever find time to train.

My answer is always the same. "I make time, because training is most important to me."

So here's my big tip on making more time to train. (or do anything productive for that matter)

I've said it before and I'm sticking to my guns here. Turn off the fucking TV.

How many hours of TV do you watch per night? Per week? Be honest with yourself. Lying about your bad habits doesn't affect me any.

What's more important? Watching your favourite show or losing that spare tire around your waist?

My living room is probably pretty dusty, and the $20 yard sale TV I bought in 2001 is still not hooked up to any cable or satellite.

Take a little pride in your training and just say no to that show. After a month you won't even miss it.

Reaching greatness (or just not fatness), requires great sacrifice. Just think about how you could benefit from getting rid of your entertainment equipment.

Pawn your $10,000 worth of TV and Surround bullshit. That could be spent on a lifetime gym membership, personal training and nutritionist. For that kind of coin you could have me move into your house and cook your meals.

The $50-$70 per month you spend with your digital cable provider can be spent on good food, supplements and some regular massage therapy appointments.

Another weekend another great event training session for me. As I write this monday morning, I'm already thinking forward to next saturday's events session.

Just to give you an idea of what I do at these events sessions and how I eat on my most intense training day of the week, I'm going to give you a snapshot of my training log from Saturday including my food journal.

Saturday Nov 1st 2008;

8am- 8 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1-3/4 cups of oats, multi-vitamin

10am-4oz round steak (cubed), 1-2/3 cups of brown rice

Noon- (Pre-training shake) 1 scoop waxy-maise, 1 scoop vanilla Whey fusion, 1 tsp beta-alanine, 1 scoop L-Leucine

12:30pm- Atlas stones- 205lbs stone front squats and 255lbs stone loads (as warm-up),
300lbs stone load to 54" platform for 3 sets of 2 reps,
320lbs stone load to 54" platform X 1 rep,
350lbs stone load to 54" platform X 1 rep,
385lb stone load to 54" platform X no lift
385lbs stone load to 51" platform X 1 rep

650lbs timber frame carry- 4 carries of 60-75 feet.

650lbs tire flip/205lb atlas stone carry- alternating flips of the tire with a partner for 150' and then carrying the stone back on the shoulder as fast as possible.

During the training I sipped a waxy-maise/L-leucine combo

3:30pm-(post training shake)- 3 scoops waxy-maise, 1 scoop whey fusion, 1 tsp beta alanine, 1 tsp glutamine.

4pm-1 scoop whey fusion, 8 plain rice cakes

5pm-4 oz round steak, 1-2/3 cups of brown rice

7pm- 4 oz round steak, 1-2/3 cups brown rice

9pm-4 oz round steak, 1-1/2 cups of brown rice

11pm-1-1/2 scoops whey fusion.

1:30am (wake up from sleeping)-3 scoops whey fusion, 4 tsp olive oil.

That was my day in a nutshell, in terms of training and nutrition.

I always look forward to saturday events for the simple fact that events are a ton of fun and leave you blasted afterwards.

Happy Halloween

Have you heard the song thriller enough times yet today?
The radio jockeys love to beat that to death.

I'm gonna use this occasion to talk about the "costumes" we see on a regular basis in the gym.
I have compiled enough data from watching the gyms for the last 4 years as well as being in gyms for many more, that I have categorized some training habits and personality traits that go along with the type of "costumes" people wear to the gym.

Cardio princess: This girl is usually decked out in a new or near new lulu lemon or equivalent outfit, that probably cost more than her gym membership. Her hair is perfect, as is the makeup and she may even leave the treadmill to check on the status of the hair and makeup during the work-out. The princess doesn't sweat much, if at all. She is generally blessed with the ability to not work hard but still maintain a decent physique. Often times the Cardio Princess is more concerned with looking good and checking out the men than the work-out.
The Adonis: This guys is usually sporting a wife beater or sleeveless shirt. Adonis usually has decent arms and shoulders and is fairly lean. He loves to look at himself in the mirror. It is typical for Adonis to wear accessories such as an armband MP3 player and training gloves.
(ED note: Training gloves are fucking Ghey) The training regime of an adonis is usually focused on arms, chest and shoulders. He can also be seen doing forearm work and calf presses. Adonis only uses the squat rack for doing barbell curls. His focus is usually split between watching his triceps while he does pushdowns, and checking out the Cardio Princesses.
Mr./Mrs. Sweaty: They are usually wearing regular shorts or jogging pants and a loose T-Shirt. This person is usually a little on the heavy side. They come to the gym with the sole purpose of losing some weight. The work their but off on the treadmill and usually keep to themselves.
Mr/Mrs sweaty are usually doing a decent job on their training but are often turning a blind eye to the weights as they feel that cardio is the only thing that can help them lose weight. They've also been sighted doing some ab work at a furious pace in a corner by themself.

Social Stanley: The social stanley dresses much like mr/mrs sweaty. Jogging pants and a t-shirt. They can also be found at the gym in regular street clothes, becuase they are not going to get much of a sweat going. Their prime directive is to chat it up with anyone that will listen. It is best to avoid eye contact with social Stanley as he/she sees this as an invitation to give you a detailed description of their day. Social Stanley has been known accesorize with a newspaper or magazine. (This is in case no-one will listen to them)

Alan All Business: This guy comes to the gym in shorts or jogging pants, a t-shirt or sweatshirt and brings such accesories as a training journal, lifting belt and chalk. He's got his training planned out and written down. He gets in, works his balls off and gets the hell out. Alan All Business is the guy that usually has the physique he wants as he works hard and trains smart.
The strongest guy in the gym is often also an Allan All Business. Of course there are many combinations of the above stereotypes and most people are not purely of one type.

What "costume" do you wear to the gym?

Train Like a Badass, look like a Badass

Okay, enough is enough.

I heard it again yesterday.

"I don't need to train my legs, they are already big enough, I just want to work my chest, arms and shoulders. Oh and I want a six pack too."

It's my job to not take a shit on these guys and throw it up in their face that they are skinny, weak and running around on a pair of chicken legs.

So I'll lay it down right here.

If you want a jacked up upper body, you need a jacked up lower body to put it on.
You also need to work harder than all the guys that look the way you don't want to look.
You need to to do the training sessions that everyones hates to do because it's "too hard". Cry me a river, captain upper body.

Have you ever seen a house get built from the roof down? Not me.

I even used to work construction and I always saw the heavy and solid foundation get poured first.
And the work involved in building that foundation sucks. But guess what? If badass training was easy, everyone would look good.


Now I'm not saying you should ignore the "chest, arms and shoulers", but for lucifers sake, train your lower body too and train like someone has a gun to your head.

Lets take a look at some of the more well know badasses out there today and compare their training to yours.

Marius Pudzianowski, 5 time worlds strongest man. This guy not only kicks everyones ass in strongman competitions, he also puts to rest the idea that strongmen are fat slumbering slobs. He's about as jacked as they come.

Unfourtunately I couldn't get an interview with him about his trainning, but it is widely know that he performs many squats and deadlifts, as well as standing barbell pressing and olympic lifts as part of his non-specific strongman training.

He also performs excruciating conditioning work as part of his strongman specific training.

Marius did not get to where he is by doing Dumbbell flys and triceps kickbacks.




Brock Lesnar, former WWE superstar and current UFC competitor. If you didn't think this guys was the craziest form of a human you have ever seen from the first time you saw him....just log off here right now.

Not only is Brock a giant alien from another planet, he can also back up the tough guy image in the octagon.

I'm gonna let you watch some of his training for yourself.

Brock's training program is a little bit different that what we're used to seeing in the average gym, but the key is that it's hard goddamn work, and he aproaches it like a man on mission.

So, get off the seated triceps isolator machine and pick up a barbell, pick up a sledgehammer, hammer the heavy bag and train like a baddass.