Positive Fitness

Dictionary.com defines Plyometrics as:

A type of exercise using explosive movements to develop muscular power, esp. bounding, hopping, and jumping.

Plyos (as they are called for short) are great ways to train your muscles for fast twitch movements and are an awesome way for athletes to develop stronger and faster bursts of speed in their movements. And every athlete knows that being faster and stronger are essential for success in almost any sport.

I really like Reference’s explanation of what muscular power is on the Plyometrics page:

Muscular power is determined by how long it takes for strength to be converted into speed. The ability to convert strength to speed in a very short time allows for athletic movements beyond what raw strength will allow..

This is such a great explanation of what muscular power is and how Plyometrics help in achieving things that your body would not be able to do solely using strength training. So with that we will get onto some basic Plyometrics movements to get you started in your Plyometrics training.

Power Skip For Height

Power skipping is an aerobic exercise that is great for your thighs and calves. It is basically a skip, where you alternate legs trying to achieve maximum height off of ever jump. Using this in combination with power skipping for distance is a great combo of Plyos.

Power Skip For Distance

This is just like power skipping for height except now instead of trying to gain maximum vertical height you will be trying to achieve maximum horizontal distance. So now you are jumping out instead of up (like you would for height).

I’ve always liked going for a simple walk, although in the past few years I’ve been hard-pressed to make myself make the time for it. The past few days have given me more reason to walk than just the simple exercise, it’s a good way to get out and get away from the stress of your life.

Therapy

The past week I’ve been dealing with an abnormal amount of stress in my work, personal life, and just about around every corner of my day. So I’ve been using a 20 minute walk as a way to get away from everything and take some time for myself to sort out what’s going through my head. Of course it’s not a requirement that you think at all when you go for a stroll down the road, it’s nice to just not think of anything but putting one foot in front of the other for a while.

Exercise

There are some obvious benefits to going outside. A walk is far better than sitting in a recliner, no matter who you ask. It can make a difference just by parking your car around the corner from work or in the back of the parking lot at BigDept. Store ©. For me it’s a good starting point, I’ve let myself get far out of shape, and have had issues with my back and shins since I was in Jr. High.

Companionship

It can be great to have someone go along with you, it gives you a chance to bond, to get more information out of each other or just talk about your day. It can be a better (healthier) alternative to sitting around the table and picking at food after a meal that you don’t need just to see eachother. If you don’t have a significant other to get out there with, take your dog! He’ll love the exercise and will never say “not right now,” just don’t take him for a walk while you drive in your car….
Set some simple goals

Goals!

Setting goals isn’t a big deal at all. Start by walking what you know you can do, and walk that distance a couple of times a week. Then, as you get more into it start going to the next mailbox, or the next road, and work your way up every couple of trips. You’ll start to notice quickly that it’s getting easier and easier to get down the sidewalk every day. It’s a great feeling.

That’s about all I’ve got for now. Now get out there and get Rover some exercise.

Most people want to have big arms. Not all people know how to get them. Today I am going introduce Bicep Curls to beginners.

In general usage, the biceps is the biceps brachii, the prominent muscle on the inside of each upper arm, popularly associated with bodily strength because it can be flexed very visibly.

From Reference.com’s entry for Bicep.

The most common way to exercise your biceps is to do Bicep curls. There are a few different ways you can do Bicep curls, but I prefer standing with a good solid athletic stance (shoulders firm, feet shoulder width apart, and knees slightly bent). Then I will use two dumbbells and alternate the biceps curl movement. If you are unfamiliar with the proper form of Bicep curls I would recommend checking out this guide from BodyBuilding.com. Where they state:

Stand straight up with your shoulders squared and with your feet shoulder-width apart. Let the bar hang down at arm’s length in front of you, with your arms, shoulders and hands in a straight line. WITHOUT leaning back or swinging the weight, curl the bar up toward your chest in an arc. Keep your elbows in the same place and close to your sides. Bring the weight up as high as you can and squeeze the biceps at the top. Lower the weight slowly, resisting all the way down until your arms are nearly straight.

Now that guide is for barbell curls but it is the same concept for dumbbell curls, where you will alternate arms. I normally start the next arm when my other arm is close to being down to resting position (on the way down).

For a decent beginner starting workout I recommend starting out with something like this:

Day 1: 10, 10, 10 (reps, each arm). On your first day I would recommend doing a light weight and getting used to the movements and proper form.

Day 2: 8, 8, 8 (reps, each arm). Up the weight if possible and try to crank out 8 on each arm with proper form.

Day 3: 8, 6, 4 (reps, each arm). On this day push yourself hard to use proper form and raise the weight.

*Note: Those are not consecutive days. The “Day” is representative of your arm workout day. I only work out my arms once a week hard. If you workout while you are still sore you may risk injury and you will not develop how you should.

Now this is just a guide to get you started. I do 4 sets of Bicep curls once a week for my Bicep workout. It depends on your body and what you need to maintain and gain what you want. My arms are the size I want them to be, I do not do low reps on Bicep curls because I am trying to define and tone my arms instead of make them bigger. This is my personal goal, so set your own goals and work to achieve them. Remember before starting any workout routine to consult your doctor and if you are unsure as to what you should do I would recommend hiring a personal trainer.

I just discovered Wildman Training’s blog and found a good post on outdoors training, and being that summer is fast approaching I thought it would be appropriate that I am quite impressed with, the first is based on working out outdoors and in the playground, what could be better?

Real Muscle Online has a great article on “How to structure your ab workout for better abs” that I found very helpful and informational. They also had an informational post on “How to make your daily run more weight loss effective” that I found to be great as well. A lot of positive work going on at Real Muscle Online, keep it up guys!

The main reason regular running is limited in its effectiveness is because you get used to that heart rate range. If you jog at the same pace everyday your body becomes adapted to it and doesn’t get pushed. If you add some sprints in there though, you can increase your heart rate during the run as well as boosting your metabolism for the rest of the day. This means less calories absorbed as fat and more fat burning the next day. All good.

Crunch Notes has an article on “Marathon Training for Nerds” that is worthy to check out for the tech-hearted. They have a lot of great gadgets and technology that pertain to active workouts and running.

When you are out on the road traveling for either business or leisure it is not always possible to stay inactive for days or weeks at a time. Your body will start losing muscle over the course of even a week so staying active is essential. Depending on your accommodations when you are on the road (hotel, camping, relatives or friends house) reflect what you will be able to do physically to stay in shape.

General

• Running – Ask someone where a safe route would be to run, as you may not be familiar with the area and the roads. Go out during daylight hours to be safe.
• Pushups – Make a rigorous pushup routine to do in your room, use different hand positions to work out different parts of your upper body. Including shoulders, triceps, and chest.
• Crunches – There are so many ab workouts you can do in your hotel room or lodging that your abs can get just as good of a workout on vacation as they would at home or at the gym. Plus the fact that your eating habits may abnormal (more grease, more fast food), crunches and running are great for burning those excess calories.
• Squats/Lunges - Doing some weightless squats will help your legs stay active and not lose to much of your hard work.
• Swimming – Swimming is a great workout for the entire body. Most hotels have pools (and maybe a hot tub for some relaxing after a hard swim or day) and you can get some laps in. Make sure you bring goggles so you don’t run into the edge of the pool! If you are camping, there is also a possibility of swimming, call ahead and ask.

Hotel

Quite a few hotels have access to weight rooms with a few basic machines, which could include treadmills, bikes, and a few weight machines. Use the machines to your advantage, usually they are not the best quality or most useful but if you can get a few upper body exercises in, it will definitely help keep those muscles active.

Camping

While camping you can do various activities including hiking, mountain biking, canoeing, swimming. Call ahead to where you will be staying and see the activities that they would recommend doing to stay active. Camping is usually a relaxing vacation choice, but that does not mean that you should take the entire trip off, get out and do something, be active, there will be plenty of time to relax at other points of the day.

Relatives or Friends

Ask your family or friends if there is something you can get out and do to stay active during your visit. Maybe they will get out and do something with you. Ask them for good running routes to avoid high traffic areas and other dangerous areas.

Conclusion

As you can see there are so many options to stay active when you are out on the road and there really is no reason to not even attempt to get 15-30 minutes into a day, even if you are busy most of the day. It will make you feel much better and could help you sleep better on that awful hotel bed you have to stay on for a week.

I am on the road while writing this and I must say I have felt much better on the days that I got up and did some running and pushups compared to the days I did not. Leave your traveling workout tips in the comments.