Military Workouts-Total Body Fitness Routines

            The first words that come to my mind when it comes to describe military workouts are smart fitness, smart diet plan and smart people.

I must say that I was always a great admirer of the military workouts. Better said, I admire the incredible top fitness shape you get from these total bodyweight workouts.

If you are interested in building a fat-free, lean, muscular and buff body, the following lines will help you understand what to do to get your impeccable physique.

Whether we talk about Army workout, Navy workout, Special Forces workout or Marine workouts, they all have in common a few things.

First, the military workouts are overall body-development programs. They will get you an incredible lean, muscular and fat-free physique. These are total bodyweight fitness routines that will develop and strengthen all your muscles. They include all the group muscles that often go ignored, such as neck, forearms, calves and rear delts. The result is a very harmonious body with the right proportions.

Second, all of these military workouts are bodyweight routines. The cool thing about training using your body weight is that you are in tune with nature. A gym machine will only strengthen a certain muscle, in complete isolation. Therefore, the other body muscles remain as weak as they were before. The strong, lean and buff muscles we get from the bodyweight routines are so much more healthier and powerful. The explanation is that these exercises strengthen our entire body from the core. When we do one of the military workouts mentioned before, we work our entire body, the muscles, the organs and the glands.

Third, the military workouts are proven fat loss workouts. There is no better way of building a fat-free, harmonious, athletic, buff and toned body than using our own body weight as the resistance. A quick glance at the bodies of soldiers or gymnasts will show us just how muscular and fat-free our physique can become when using such a training program.

Fourth, military workouts are high-intensity strength training routines. These bodyweight routines are not just for the army, navy or special forces. However, that doesn't mean they are for everyone. You have to be in a decent physical shape to enjoy such an intense training.

Last summer, I trained for three weeks with a navy SEAL instructor and I have to say that it was hard and very intense. Nevertheless, it was not as extreme as I thought it would be.

Why was I able to complete my training sessions? Only because I was in good physical shape due to my previous training.

I have to tell you that the fitness training I followed the last 16 months is actually quite similar to the navy workout. It is designed to be ideal for busy people, but due to the fact that it is short and intense, the results are stunning. Since I started the program 16 months ago, I lost more than 50 pounds of body fat and I got the lean and muscular physique that I always wanted.

Anyway, because of the similarities, I digged deeper into the subject and found out that my Turbulence Training routine - the bodyweight fitness program I successfully follow, it was actually adopted, in its advanced form by the Army.

Special congrats to my friends, Steve and Ross. Although they were overweight at the time, I helped them train for four months and they successfully passed all the needed military requirements. They now serve in the Army.

The best part is that you can also start Turbulence Training at any time, regardless of your present physical condition. You can do that because the total bodyweight fitness routine that I use pays a special attention to the beginners, as they are the ones who need more guidance as they adjust to fitness training.

I am sure that I have awakened your interest in discovering the benefits of the total body fitness routines provided by military workouts.

So, if you want to, you can take it to a point were you are as fit as a marine, a navy seal or an army ranger. Start your transformation today with the results-proven Turbulence Training – the total body fitness routine.

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Correct Pull-up

The correct pull-up develops back strength.

Your biceps also help with the movement as well. Back strength is especially important for people to provide added support.

Unfortunately, many people lack the upper-body strength required to perform them with proper form. This can be discouraging and can cause many men and women to leave the exercise out of their program entirely. However, there are ways of incorporating the pullup into your workout routine even if you lack the upper-body strength to perform traditional pullups.

 

How to do a correct Pull-up:

The correct pullup exercise requires a long bar suspended several feet above the ground. You should use a step or chair to mount the bar.

1. Grab the bar with an overhand grip so that your hands are spaced no more than shoulder-width apart.

2. Allow your body to hang until it is completely straight, and then lift your body by bending at your elbows. Continue pulling until your chin is above the bar and then relax until your body is completely straight.

Tips:

1. If you are a beginner, modified pullups are a way to get many of the benefits of the traditional pullup without it being as difficult. For this exercise, use a suspended bar that is about 2 to 3 feet off the ground. Again, grab the bar with an overhand grip and walk underneath so that your chest is directly until the center of the bar. The rest of your body should be fully extended and form a straight line that is angled toward the floor.

Allow your arms to fully extend, and then pull your body upward until your chest touches the bar. After your chest touches the bar, allow your arms to reach full extension and then repeat.

2. Extremely overweight or regularly inactive people should start with modified pullups to develop the back strength required to perform traditional pullups. Also, men and women with poor grip strength should start with modified pullups as well. The correct pullup requires strict form so that the proper muscles are targeted. Do not swing your legs or rock your hips upward to assist with the lift. This rocking motion can put increased strain on your lat muscles and can injury.

3. A correct negative pullup is an adaptation of the regular pull-up.

Negatives can be used both to increase the intensity of a regular pullup routine or by people who cannot do a full pullup. Stand on a chair in the pullup position, grasping the bar in an overhand grip. Use the support of the chair to get yourself into the finished pullup position with your chin above the bar. Move your feet off the chair, losing that support. Remain in the same position, holding yourself up and lower your body down as slowly as you can until your arms are extended straight up. Repeat for a low number of repetitions.

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Correct Abdominal Crunch

          

The correct abdominal crunch or sit up is an exercise we can all benefit from. This muscle group is the key to good posture and overall strength. It all starts here.

But form is actually more important than reps.  Fewer repetitions, between 10 and 15, done perfectly and with attention can do more to get you to a trim tummy than doing 30 sloppy crunches.

How to do a correct abdominal crunch:

1. Lie down on your back on a mat placed on the floor.

2. Place your hands behind your head to support your neck.

3. Roll your shoulders blades up off the floor as far as you can.

4. Hold the contraction for a moment, and slowly lower your shoulders back down in a controlled fashion.

5. Do twenty repetitions before taking a rest, and repeat this a maximum of three times, depending on your fitness level.

6. This can be done three times over the next week for beginners and up to 5 times for more experienced individuals.

Tips:

1. Your hands should only support the weight of your head. You should not try and pull yourself up with your arms.

2. Do not hold your breath while exercising - oxygen fuels the muscles.

3. If you can't finish the above-mentioned repetitions, do as many as you can the first time and work your way up from there.

4. Keep your belly button pulled in and your lower back pressed against the matt as you lift your shoulders toward the ceiling.  Also, take your time with each separate crunch.  Racing through will allow some momentum to take over for what your muscles should be doing.  Take time, between 1 and 2 seconds, to do each crunch.  Working a little slower will help you pay more attention to your form and will be a better workout for your abs. 

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Correct Bodyweight Squat

            The correct bodyweight squat is the best lower-body exercise a person can do. It works all the major muscle groups of the thighs, gluts, and hamstings. It will firm up your legs and build strength to help you with everyday activities.

How to do a correct squat:

1. Position your feet slightly wider than hip width apart with your toes slightly turned out, and knees slightly bent.

2. Hold your hands out in front of you at shoulder height. This will counterbalance your weight and help you keep your balance.

3. Slowly and under control, bend your knees and lower yourself down as far as you can without lifting your heels off the floor. Kind of like sitting down in a chair. Then, once your thighs are parallel to floor, push your weight back up until you are back at the starting position.

4. Do 10 to 20 repetitions to finish one set before resting. You can repeat the set, but use your own discretion as to how much you can manage.

Tips:

1. Keep your weight over the middle of your foot and your heel.

2. DO NOT allow your knees to go past your toes or move side to side throughout the movement.

3. If you have any knee, hip, or ankle injuries or any other ailments that can cause discomfort or worsen any existing injuries, do not perform this exercise without consulting a physician or fitness professional.

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Best Fitness Model Workout

Think about this for a moment, do you believe an Abercrombie model or a bodybuilder is the most physically attractive? 

I guess the absolute majority of people would say that the Abercrombie model easily wins that competition. So why do we still see so many people obsessed with huge muscle building developing routines?  Wouldn’t it be better to emulate a fitness models training routine to develop lean, defined muscles?

This naturally solicits the question: how would an Abercrombie model train?

There are two decisive factors to any fitness routine: smart diet and smart exercise.  To develop a fitness model look, both of these ingredients will need to be included. While smart diet is best for reducing adipose tissue (...fat), smart fitness exercise is the most reliable method to gain lean muscle. The two factors can be joined into a workout plan that will get you closer to achieving the physique of an Abercrombie model.

In my opinion, the characteristic features of the Abercrombie model are tight, defined abs and lean, toned muscles. It is wise to act upon carving out the six-pack abs prior to beginning work on gaining bigger muscular tissue.

Achieving six pack abs necessitates a blend of a fat blasting, smart workout regime with a smart diet.

You should create a training agenda that works for you, perhaps even splitting these exercises in to a two-day training routine twice weekly, equaling 4 workouts every week. The goal here is to avoid that puffed up appearance of the bodybuilder, building smaller, tighter and stronger-looking muscles that are more pleasing to the eye instead.

Finally, don't undervalue the importance of dieting.  There are only so many hours in a day to exercise at such a degree of intensity. Integrating a smart diet plan in addition to exercise is what will genuinely cause fast fat loss.

Whether you track all your calories, monitor your weight each day, or practice intermittent fasting, you need to ensure you eat at a caloric deficit.

If you have successfully made it through the first phase and melted off your body fat to the point that you can see your abdominals, you can begin the second phase. Your overall goals will influence how you implement this phase.

If you simply want to rapidly increase the size of your muscles, you are able to perform a bodyweight or a weight lifting routine to shrink-wrap your muscles while keeping the same calorie restrictive diet.  Anyone wishing to gain muscles should begin consuming a larger number of calories.  Be careful not to eat too much though as you can only really add so much muscle without gaining fat.

Anybody trying to add muscle mass will need to undergo a workout plan that forces you to push yourself to exhaustion. Rather than low rep sets, you will execute high rep sets and ensure your muscles are fatigued on each exercise. 

If your goal is to increase your muscle mass over a time period, then make certain to step by step move from training to the point of fatigue back to strength training during this phase.

Anybody who exercises their muscles to the point of exhaustion for an extensive period of time will likely attain the puffier visual aspect of a bodybuilder. Then, you will have to return to the low reps, heavier load process of strength work in order to attain leaner, more defined muscles.

In order to get the best final results from this models workout routine, you must keep your focus on toning and increasing muscle size at the same time you are working to burn and keep off fat.

A routine of strength training to build lean, well-defined muscles mixed with high-intensity exercise to effectively burn fat would be at the heart of an Abercrombie model workout.

Such a training program will result in a lithe, sporty visual aspect.  At that point, an Abercrombie model workout could either switch to “shrink wrap” the muscles to provide a tighter, more muscular appearance or switch to a muscle gaining training routine to add a little more bulk.  

After training to failure to increase muscle mass for long time, a fitness model must eventually revert to low rep, heavy weight strength training to avoid the soft bodybuilder look.  

Overall, I would advice you to set aside the bodybuilding approach and start your transformation with Craig Ballantyne's "TurbulenceTraining" – the Fitness Models Workout Routine proven to work. 

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PushUps - Just Perfect For Your Body

             Physical activity is life! Exercise is life! Which exercises are considered the easiest to perform? Except walking, which is the easiest to do.

Think about another exercise that you can do by yourself without the help of a fitness trainer. What other exercise helps your entire body to be in top shape.

Well, the answer is very simple: push-ups!

If you didn't know it already, the push-ups are the closest thing there is to a perfect exercise. Push-ups are the best upper body exercises that use the body's own weight to strengthen and shape the core muscles: the chest muscles, the shoulder muscles, the triceps and the back muscles.

These are the 10 reasons why you should be doing push-ups:

1. Push-ups work more muscle groups than any other body-weight exercise.

2. The position in which the exercise is performed does not force your joints, so you will not feel any pain.

3. 50 reps a day equals 2 hours of exercise.

4. Anyone knows how to do it.

5. Even persons weighing over 100 kg can perform push-ups.

6. You can train in the park, at work or at home.

7. With only 30 minutes of push-ups a day, you will keep yourself in top shape.

8. After a month of daily training, you will see a visible increase in arm muscle size and mass, you will lose up to 5 pounds and your chest will be more firm and bigger.

9. Arm strength will increase considerably.

10. You will stay in shape with minimal effort.

Here are 5 tips for effective push-ups:

1. Do not touch the floor with your chest. The descent should be controlled. Keep a 5-8 cm distance. To avoid mistakes, put a book on the floor while doing push-ups. When you touch the book with your chest, you will know it is time to get up again.

2. If you are a beginner and traditional push-ups seem too hard, do knee push-ups instead. Start face-down on the ground. Lift the feet off floor and bring your heels towards your buttocks. Bend the knees to form an L-shape.

If these are also hard, do wall push-ups. Stand two feet from the wall and place your hands flat against it. Bend your arms slowly until your face is about 2 inches from the wall. Then push back and return to starting position.

After a few days, you will be able to do both knee and basic push-ups.

3. Make small changes when you train. For example, try different arm and hand placement push-ups. Try slow push-ups, one-handed or plyometric push ups.

4. Perform this exercise in front of a mirror to see if your body position is correct. At the start and end of the push-up your elbows must be fully extended, forefoot or toes on the floor. Legs, hips and back must be straight. If you do not have a mirror near you, ask someone to assist you.

5. Divide the 50 repetitions in several sets. Perform these sets throughout the day. Do not forget to drink plenty of water-based fluids.

So, if you want to get a lean and strong body or just lose weight, you must include the push-ups in your fitness program.

Keep in mind that Smart Fitness plus Smart Diet equals Smart People.

            Start your body transformation! Begin Craig Ballantyne's"Turbulence Training”, now!

  

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The Four Key Elements of Smart Fitness

            Smart fitness training balances the four elements for a better state of health.

Make sure your fitness program includes aerobic fitness, muscular fitness, stretching and strengthening exercises.

Whether you are a fitness beginner or an exercise fanatic, it is essential to have a well-established fitness program.

If you use these four elements of fitness training then you will definitely get a well-balanced routine:

1. Aerobic fitness

Aerobic exercises, also known as heart resistance activity represent the essence of most fitness programs. Aerobic exercises make you breathe faster and more deeply, therefore they will increase the amount of oxygen in your blood.

If you do the correct form of aerobic fitness, the heart, lungs and blood vessels will transport more efficiently the oxygen in the entire body.

Aerobic exercises include any physical activity that involves using multiple muscle groups and increase heart rate. Try to walk faster or do activities such as jogging, cycling, swimming, dancing and water aerobics at least thirty minutes every day.

            2. Muscular fitness

Muscular fitness is another key component of a smart fitness-training program. Muscular fitness workouts strengthen your bones and reshape your muscles properly. Other benefits include increases in connective tissue strength, anaerobic power, low-back health, and self-esteem.

These exercises will also help you maintain your muscle mass during a weight loss program.

Note that you don’t have to spend a lot of money for subscriptions or other expensive equipment to obtain these benefits. Bodyweight matters a lot, so try to do pushups, crunches and squats. I am a follower of home fitness training because it works great.

            3. Stretching

Most aerobic activities can cause you painful muscle contractures. To avoid this problem during your fitness routine, it is very important to stretch your muscles.

Do not stretch until you have at least warmed up thoroughly. Walking at a faster rate or running at low intensity for 5-10 minutes will do the trick. Stretching at the end of your workout is also highly recommended.

Keep in mind that if you do not exercise regularly, you need to do stretching at least three times a week to maintain your flexibility.

            4. Strengthening exercises

Abdominal, back and pelvis muscles (known as core muscles) have a protective role of the upper back and maintain the connection between the upper and lower body movements.

Strengthening exercises will help you develop the muscles that are needed to block the spine when you do your fitness routine. These exercises will allow you to use upper and lower body muscles more efficiently.

So, if you want to be strong, flexible and in excellent physical shape, you must include the four elements mentioned above, in your fitness program.

            Keep in mind that smart fitness plus smart diet equals smart people.

            Craig Ballantyne's "Turbulence Training" is one complete fitness program that delivers on its promises. I use this amazing workout on a daily basis and you should try it, too.

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