A Dumbbell Workout Routine from Hell

Before starting this workout, get a thorough warm-up. Start by rotating your joints from the neck down to the ankles. Then do some light jogging, jumproping or similar cardio activity to get the body heat up.

To do this workout, all you need is a pair of adjustable dumbbells (or access to a nice db rack.) If possible, choose a weight that allows you to do all 3 exercises without stopping to change the weight.

Here is the workout. Perform all 3 exercises back-to-back with no rest in between. After each cluster, rest 1-2 minutes. As soon as you are ready, jump into the next round. Do 3-5 rounds depending on your fitness level.

Floor Press in Bridge

Get into a hip bridge on the floor with the dumbbells held tight to your chest. Press the dumbbells in a straight line while keeping the glutes tight and the heels pressed into the floor. Don't let the hips sag when you lower the weight. Do 20 repetitions.

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The Most Brutal Easy Garage Workout

Keep a dumbbell exercise chart on the wall for quick reference. Click here for more.

Cardiovascular Dumbbell and Barbell Workout Routines

Fitting in a muscle-crushing, heart pumping workout in a short amount of time is easy with dumbbell and barbell complexes. In the 10-20 minutes it takes you to complete these short workout routines (including warm-up) you will feel your muscles burning and your lungs gasping for air.

Dumbbell/Barbell Workout Routines

Do each routine without resting between exercises. Aim for 2-3 total rounds, resting between rounds for 60 seconds.

Dumbbell/Barbell Rollout:

Start from your knees, or if you already have a core of steel, from your feet. Slowly roll the weight/s out in front of you until your arms are extended, then roll back to the starting position. Keep your butt and abs tight to prevent your lower back from sagging. This exercise will build up core strength while working your lats as well. 

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The Kettlebell Dumbbell Relay Workout for Strength and Endurance   

The Busy Man's Full Body Workout

Trying to get it all done

I recently read an online article titled the Busy Man's Workout. It consisted of a few dumbbell movements combined with bodyweight exercises in a 30 minute circuit. The workout listed no reps or sets, just a guideline to do 30 seconds of one exercise, rest 15 seconds and repeat on the next. Then repeat the whole circuit as many times as possible in 30 minutes.

Although the workout was solid and I like the idea of going for broke instead of counting reps and resting until you have comfortably caught your breath again, the exercises, with one exception, seemed like the same 'ol same 'ol. You know: Push press, front squat, dumbbell deadlift and so on. These are great exercises, but I had a better idea for a 30 minutes circuit. One that uses, say, less traditional implements, with one exception.

So here it is, call it the "full body garage workout" if you want. Try this 3 times in one week, resting one day in between. Just like the "Busy Man's Workout," do the exercises non-stop for 30 seconds, then rest 15 seconds before switching to the next exercise. You want to work up to 60 seconds by the way, but start off with what you can handle. Resting longer than 15 seconds defeats the purpose of this workout. That is, build functional muscle throughout the core, legs, shoulders, back and arms, while at the same time burning fat and conditioning your heart.

Train with Chains

foxypar4, http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxypar4/515783755/

Heavy chains are great for this but battling ropes work as well or better. I just like the clink of heavy metal when I use chains. Make sure the chain weight is not too light that it goes flying everywhere, but not so heavy that you can't work them for 30-60 seconds at a time.

Grab one end of the chains in either hand. Cast the loop out in front of you (you can wrap them around a post if you prefer.) Now, with your legs slightly bent, alternately swing your arms out in front of you using a slight hip rotation to power the movement. The whole body should be engaged to take the load off of the shoulders. (But you will still feel this in your shoulders.)

If this exercise gets tired, try doing both arms at the same time. Imagine you are doing a snatch with the chains and whip them with both arms and body extended.

Heavy Bag Lifting

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*If you do not have a heavy bag, or don't feel like taking one down, use sandbags instead.

Lay the heavy bag down verticall pointed in front of you. Straddle one end and assume a deep squat position. Get a grip on the bag, use the whole body to bring it up and onto one shoulder. To do this, extend through the ankles, knees and hips as though you were doing a snatch, then drop under it and squat up. Hold this position for 10 seconds, bring it down and lift it onto the opposite shoulder. Keep going for 30-60 seconds.

Dumbbell or Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up

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This is a great exercise for engaging the whole body. It's not bad for improving focus, either.

Using a dumbbell or kettlebell, lay on the ground with the same leg as the weight-side bent. Hold the weight against the floor as though you were going to bench press it. Now drive it up straight while twisting to the opposite elbow at the same time.

Push up with the free hand, driving the weight straight up. Keep your eyes on the weight throughout the movement.

Get over the bent leg while sliding the free leg behind you. Now push up as in a lunge. Reverse the process to lay back down, and you have done one rep. Wash, rinse, repeat.

*This exercise can be done with a sandbag if dumbbells or kettlebells are not available.

Pullups

Pullups work more than your lats, although they are great for developing those. They affect your biceps, forearms, trapezius and even the pectorals to some extent. You may even engage the posterior deltoids. Do as many as you can in good form in 30 seconds. If you are stuck on a rep, just hang with your shoulders pulled down and in.

So that's it. A simpe "Full Body Garage Workout for Busy People" using basic implements. Remember to keep the pace up to get the most out of this workout and warm up before you start. Have fun!

Great Fitness Ideas for Everyone to Stay in Shape

Exercise benefits young and old, sedentary and athletic, and whether you do it in a 24 Hour Fitness with machines and eliptical trainers, or in your backyard with stones and rusting dumbbells, the results are pretty much the same. Train hard, train often, and watch your diet. You'll feel great and you will be healthier. Chances are you will also build some muscle and burn off a little fat while you're at it.

Unfortunately, research from the National Institutes of Health and a few other prominent organizations claim that two segments of the population, teens and seniors, are becoming less fit in general, with obesity and related diseases on the rise as a result.

Having seen the benefits of physical therapy and regular exercise work miracles on my 78 year old father after he took a fall in his house, I was inspired to write out some ideas for seniors to get up and moving. This was the final product:

Easy Cardio and Endurance Exercise Activities for Seniors

It is a basic outline of some simple and not-so-simple cardio, resistance and balance exercises seniors can do with little or no equipment. The article also offers some inspiration. How about a 100 year old woman who can put an 8.8 lb. shot almost 14 feet?

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Where I live, I see an abundance of healthy teens being very active;  playing soccer, skateboarding, riding their bikes and playing baseball and softball, to name a few. Very rarely do I see an overweight teen. But according to 'the research' there are a growing number of overweight teens every year. Considering that I loved going to the gym when I was a teenager (and doing anything active,) it is hard to imagine being sedentary as a teen.

Then again, when I was growing up we had 13 channels and Atari was the reigning video game console of the day. Still, I figured there must be a reason why there are so many teenagers who are uninvolved in physical activities. Just like everyone else, the key is probably to do a wide variety of things and continue doing those you enjoy. In other words, find something you like and it isn't 'working out,' it's FUN.

Here are my ideas for teens who want to get in shape but get bored with traditional workouts or just need some new inspiration:

How to Stay Fit Without Boredom for Teens


So check these articles out, and if you know (or are) a senior or a teen who could benefit from these, please pass them along. Suggestions welcome :-)

Not So Useless Biceps Muscles and The Exercises you Need to Try

As a 40 year-old guy I enjoy all kinds of exercise. If it keeps me strong, helps me stay flexible or increases my endurance it makes it into my workout/playtime rotation.

At this age, strength and muscle disappear fast if you don’t work at it, so resistance training is always a priority, even basic bodybuilding movements with traditional weights to hit every body part.

Yes, every. This means curls of some variation for the biceps, and even isolation work for those rear deltoids. I do this because, like every other muscle in the body, the biceps (or the posterior deltoids) are important and functional. They play a vital role in flexing the elbow and supinating the forearm, both movements which happen often throughout the day.

The biceps are a vital link between the anterior deltoids and the forearms, which is why I was surprised to read an article in a popular men’s magazine quoting trainers that claimed they were “useless.”

According to the short blurb in the magazine, the triceps were the more “important” muscles, and isolation work on the biceps was unnecessary and even dangerous. Claiming that “curls pull your shoulders forward and bend your elbows out” leaving you prone to injury, the quoted celebrity trainer also said too much biceps work would make your pecs look ‘droopy.’ Uh-huh.

eorthopod.com

So does this mean you should stop training your biceps?!?

No! As the magazine goes on to state, you will get plenty of biceps work from doing compound exercises like rows, pullups and even deadlifts.  But instead of ignoring these important muscles, try getting creative with how you work them. Forget the curls and consider these exercises:

-Hanging dumbbell rotations.

The biceps supinate the forearm, so why not add weight and resist this motion? Stand and hold a dumbbell in either hand hanging at your side, palms facing backwards, shoulders back. Grip the dumbbells firmly and rotate the hands until the palms are facing forward. Squeeze this position for 2-3 seconds and slowly return to the starting position.

-Farmer’s Walks.

Holding dumbbells at your sides, walk with palms face forward or rotate as you walk as in the exercise above. Engage the biceps with a firm grip on the dumbbells. This exercise is also great with 8x8x16 mason blocks or a similar odd object.

-Medicine ball curls.

Doing a curl with an open hand instead of with the fingers wrapped around a bar requires a slow, concentrated motion. Obviously some grip will be necessary, especially when you are lowering the ball, but open the hand through most of the movement. Start lighter and consider using one of the squishy sand-filled balls for this one.

While the majority of your workouts should involve compound exercises, don’t neglect the smaller muscle groups like the biceps from time to time. Undertraining these vital muscles can cause just as many problems as overtraining them.  Get creative and have fun!

For more interesting biceps routines, read this article:

Biceps Workouts-Functional Biceps Exercises for Big Arms