Modify for your Benefit

Sometimes you run into a workout that you just can't do. Maybe it's because of range of motion limitations or pain restrictions, but that doesn't mean you have to completely skip that body part or exercise. You can in fact still get the same benefits doing something completely different.

Modifications of an exercise/workout can help you do build muscles or lose weight with a lesser stress than the original exercise. Take my issues for example. I have a bad back, this makes it very difficult to squat and deadlift. With modifications of my leg and back workouts, I can still work my legs and low back. When it comes to leg day, while I still try and squat, I go very light weight with it. I modify by doing leg presses at a higher weight and higher volume. While on squats I'm lucky to hit 205 LBS, my average leg press is 748 LBS. That is a pretty substantial difference. By doing a Leg Press, I am able to put much less stress on my back, and also have the support on my back from the bench. I am also able to do more strength days of pushing over 1000 LBS every couple of months.

So many exercises can be modified, look at classic push ups. If you can't do them from your toes, you are taught to modify by doing them from your knees. This is taught to us all the way back in elementary school. Many modifiers like the push up from the knees are also used to assist in building that strength to be able to do them from the toes. If you are doing assisted pull -ups, you are building to do unassisted pull-ups. But just because you are modifying, doesn't mean to not make attempts at the classic movements you are building towards. Like I said, I still do squats and deadlifts, but a majority of this work is done with modifications.

Review: Ripped Cream Coffee Creamer

There are often times when you find a product that can completely change your life. Coffee creamer for many is that product. Personally I love coffee, but I can't drink it without creamer. Well coffee creamer obviously doesn't play well with the diet. That is, until now.

 

Recently I was introduced to Ripped Cream Coffee Creamer. I was browsing through Instagram and found a post from NPC Competitor Wendy Lee Govoni. In this post she had received Ripped Cream, and I was intrigued. After reading up on the product, I immediately knew that I had to get my hands on it. After a few failed attempts at trying to locate it at some stores in Kansas City, I went to their site and placed my order. I mean, honestly, what person that is into health and fitness and drinks coffee wouldn't want to try this stuff!

So right from the get go, the service with the order was great. There was an issue with Paypal attaching my shipping address and I got a personal email from Robin, the president of Ripped Cream. She actually looked up this very website because of my email address and read my story. How awesome is that? Shipping took place very quickly, and if it hadn't been for the holiday, I would have gotten my package a little earlier. But again, great customer service.

There are two flavors currently of Ripped Cream, Lean Vanilla Bean and Chizzled Chocolate. Some of you might be thinking that chocolate is a bit odd to add to coffee, but I actually know people that mix hot chocolate mix to their coffee. Think of it as a poor mans cappuccino. The first one I tried was the Chizzled Chocolate with 6g of protein. It provided a nice round flavor, and the coffee, like in cooking, really enhanced the chocolate flavor. If it had a little hazelnut flavor to it, I swear it would have tasted like a coffee Nutella!

Next up was the Lean Vanilla Bean. This was an excellent flavor. It didn't offer anything shocking, other than the fact that it tastes just like any regular vanilla coffee creamer. But the 5g of protein provided is a huge change.

With both flavors, I still had to add sweetener. This didn't surprise me much, as most creamers don't actually sweeten the coffee. I also like my coffee a bit sweet. Overall, I would say that these creamers are definite buys. I don't see myself using any other creamer in the near future, unless I run out of this and didn't reorder in time.

You can order your Ripped Cream Coffee Creamer from their website or their Indiegogo Campaign.

15 Minute Workout

Don't complain that you don't have time to workout. I am going to give you a 15* minute workout that is going to get you sweating and make you work for it! When I don't have time to put in a full workout, this is the route that I go, especially if I am looking to get my heart rate up. So go ahead and pick up some weights that you can use through this whole circuit. You want challenging, but the point in this is to keep the same weight through the whole workout.

To get a great workout in 15* minutes, we are going to stack several movements together. Form is not to be ignored though, so if it takes you longer, that is fine. We want to keep safe, but still get a good burn and workout in.

Grab your dumbbells and start with your hands at your side. I am going to break this down move for move, that way it doesn't get too confusing

• First we will do a burpee/squat thrust movement. Bending over with a straight back, keep your core engaged. Keep reaching until dumbbells touch the floor, it is ok if you bend your knees here to accomplish this movement. Kick your feet back and hold a straight plank position


• Now we are going to preform a push up as far down as you can go. Keep your body straight, and your core engaged. Remember, form is everything. If you need to do the pushup from your knees, that is ok. But you want to build up to doing a pushup from standard plank position.


• When you come up from your pushup, we are going to do the renegade row. This movement is preformed by taking one arm at a time and pulling it towards your back like you are rowing and returning to starting position. You will do a single row with each arm.


• Now back into a pushup.


• After the second pushup is completed, come back into standard plank and bring your feet back to your hands and we are going to stand up. Make sure to keep your back straight as this movement is going to be along the lines of a deadlift.


• When you reach the top of the movement of the deadlift, you want to supinate your hand position (Point palm of hands facing out in front of you) and we are now going to complete a single bicep curl with both arms at the same time. No alternating here. Hold this curl at the top of the movement.


• From here, we are going to rotate our arms out to our sides, if done correctly, you should look like a goal post. Now we press the weights over out heads, and return back down to that starting position.


• At this point bring both arms back in front of you at the position after the dumbbell curl, and complete the eccentric motion of the curl, bring your arms back down to your side.

Now repeat the above 10 - 12 times and that is one set. You will do a total of 3 sets of this workout. Allow about 1 - 2 minutes of rest between sets and stay hydrated. Go at your own pace, but keep that heart rate up. This should get more difficult with each rep and each set.

Full Body Circuit

This circuit will get your heart rate up, and have you sweating before you know it. As always, when starting a workout you should consult your physician first.

• Warm-up; This can be anything to warmup those muscles and stretch, try jogging in place for a minute or jumping jacks.


• Weighted Squat with overhead press - Use dumbbells that you are comfortable with, no need to go heavy - 20 count


• Burpee w/renegade row - use light weights, preform your burpee with your weights in hand. Hold plank position and one arm at a time, pull like you are rowing, focus on those lats - 15 count, each arm


• Chopper Lunge - using a light weight or no weight, you will go into a traditional lunge at the same time as making a chopping motion to the side of the front leg. Do each side 15 times. (Be very careful)


• Overhead Triceps Extension - Using a dumbbell you are comfortable with, hold tightly over head by one end, slowly bring dumbbell behind your head squeezing your elbows in toward each other and back up. - 20 count


• Russian Twist - Sit on your rear, legs in front slightly bent, heels on ground. Remain looking forward and twist your torso from side to side for 20 count on each side. For added difficulty you can raise your feet from the floor.

After you complete this round, repeat 2 more times. Listen to your body and use caution when doing these exercises. If you are unsure of the move you can look it up online or email me. Enjoy.

Gym Etiquette

It happens to all of us at some point. You walk into the gym and are about to jump hop on a machine to do cable rows, and someone has left a giant puddle of sweat behind! Were these people raised by wolves? Worse yet, is the fact that you are the only one in the gym! How long has that puddle been there? It can be very frustrating having to clean up after other adults in a public venue, so I bring to you this gym etiquette guide.

1. Don't stink. Yes, I know you are going to the gym to workout, but there is no need to smell bad. You are going to have plenty of time to get all musky and smelly. Please apply deodorant before going to the gym. But don't overdue the deodorizers. Putting on perfume or cologne before hitting the gym can also make it unpleasant for others. Keep it simple, don't smell like trash when you go in, and you should be fine.


2. Don't hog the equipment! I understand you want to get your workout done, but there are others that want to get their workout in as well. It's fine if you are the only one in the gym to hog what you need, as long as someone else doesn't need it. But if you workout in a small gym, be kind and share. Equipment can be very limited in smaller gyms, and everyone there has paid their dues to use that equipment. At the same time, don't get huffy if someone is on something you want to use, ask if you can work in between their sets. Most people should be fine. If you do work in, re-adjust the machines or barbell to what the previous user had it at too. They will think you for it.


3. Re-Rack the weights! Yes, you just did a 300 LBS bench press, I'm so proud of you. But re-rack the plates when you are done. No one wants to clean up your weight mess after you have left. By leaving the weights on the barbell and other plate machines, you are cutting into someone else's precious workout time as well. And what if they have difficulties lifting a 45 LBS plate?


4. Clean up! We are all guilty to a point I'm sure. You finished your workout and left without wiping down the bench or machines you just used. You left a nice butt puddle too. Take the time and wipe the machines down that you used when you are all finished with them. It's not that hard. Sure, we are all human and forget sometimes, but it shouldn't be constant. Also, throw away the wipes! No one wants to pick up your nasty wipes that you decided you could just leave in random areas of the gym.


5. Finally, put the cell phone away! Cell phones are great, we can play music and track workouts on them, but they can also be a huge distraction. Invest in a cheap mp3 player for music and use a notebook to track your workouts and enter them in your phone later. It gets really annoying when people are texting or talking on their phone at the gym. This can also be very dangerous as well. Distracted lifting is no joke. Sure it's funny to see someone texting while on the treadmill right before they face plant, but really? Was that text that important.

We are all bodybuilders

You have decided to change your life, you have put the first step forward into living a healthy lifestyle. Maybe you have been living this lifestyle for a while now. The simple fact is, you don't think you are a bodybuilder, that word might even make you shudder a little bit. But you are, in fact, a bodybuilder.

Oh yes, you may want to argue and say "But I'm not lifting heavy weights" or "I don't want to be a bodybuilder". Well TOO BAD! Ok, maybe that was a little rough, and you are not a bodybuilder in the way that you traditionally hear about it or that you may even think you know it as. You are building yourself a new body.

Yes! You are tearing down the old body that you don't want anymore, and building a new one that you want, that you want to share, that will last you a full and fun filled life. Just because you are a "Bodybuilder" doesn't mean you are hulking out. Look at bodybuilding shows, they have the ranks of Bikini, Figure, Physique, Fitness, and Bodybuilding. But all of those fall under bodybuilding. Look up bikini competitors like Alexis Burke, she is not big and bulky, but I can tell you now, she goes to the gym and lifts, she works her whole body.

So let's look at your bodybuilding in this way, shall we? You are changing your life. You have torn down the original structure of your body to force new habits, and to start building it to last. You may not fit into the general meaning of the word bodybuilder, but what else would you call it? Getting fit? Getting healthy? Embrace what you have become, and have fun with it. But don't scare the children, no one wants to scare children..ok, you can scare the children.

Don't let the gym intimidate you

We are a few weeks into the new year, and maybe you are new to the whole gym atmosphere. You went through the signup process, took a tour and a gym staff member showed you how to use the machines and gave you some tips. Now it's time you do it all on your own. You get on the chest press machine and adjust the seat. Then after you sit, you don't think it feels right, so you adjust it again and again. Finally you set the weight, Remember, the gym staff member told you to start low with around 10 LBS, so that's what you set it for. This is when you notice that in the time it's taken you, that there are more people at the gym and they are lifting heavier than you. You knock out some reps and your big day at the gym that you planned an hour for has turned into a 10 minute workout.

This intimidation is not uncommon for a new gym go'er. When you are just starting at the gym or fitness in general, you feel that all eyes are on everything you do. When you do cardio, you feel that people are racing you, or judging you because you can't run for more than a quarter mile if even that. When lifting, you notice that people may be doing a lot more than you, and you think they are judging you based on your lack of strength. This couldn't be further from the truth though. You also have to remember that you are new to all this, you have to start somewhere. After a few visits you will get it down.

Honestly, those people that you think are judging you, or secretly watching you, are probably more concerned about their workout and most likely don't even notice you there, or just don't care what you are doing.

We have all been that new person at the gym. I remember when I first started at the gym doing 10 LBS on all the machines, I wouldn't even touch the free weights. I was so self conscious. I would get to the gym super early and workout on the elliptical and hope that no one would come into the gym before I got to the machines. I didn't want people to notice how weak I was. But that eventually passed. Later when I rejoined the gym, I felt a bit intimidated again. I was lifting free weights, but I didn't have the strength that I wanted. There were others lifting, but I just put in my earbuds and did my thing. I may not be the strongest at the gym, but I don't care.

A couple weeks ago I noticed a guy at the gym working the machines, I said good morning to him and went on my way. Within a few minutes, I could tell he was a new member. He was looking over at me while I was lifting and starting to look intimidated. When I went to the seated chest press machine, I jumped the weight up to 125 LBS, and busted out 15 reps and went over to do dumbbell bench. He looked dumbfounded at the machine I had just left and made an adjustment and started using it. Soon after he left. When I went to that machine again, it was set on 10 LBS, all the machines he was using was set at 10 LBS. I haven't seen him since. He was intimidated and left, I hope he comes back. Personally I would love to workout with him, because I think it would be good for him to know some members there and realize that no one is judging him.

Gym intimidation will always be around, but the best thing to do is go into the gym with a positive attitude and doing the best you can. Who knows, maybe you will even make some friends at the gym and you might even end up being the one intimidating others next year.