Category Archives: Training

How Your Mind Can Build Your Muscles!

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We have all heard phrases like “your mind is the most powerful muscle in your body”, or “we only use 10% of our brains capacity”, or in this case the critical one “you have to build the mind-muscle connection”. However, have you ever really thought about what they mean, especially the last one, and also what impact it might have if you could really switch on some of that extra brain capacity, especially in relation to your muscles.

For the purposes of this article I’m only focusing on the brain and your minds ability to enhance your physique and help you build a better body. So if you are a budding Einstein, Mozart or Newton, you’d best look elsewhere, this article is not going to help.

The Mind Muscle Connection:

So what exactly do we mean by the often used phrase “the mind muscle connection”. Well, to be honest, it’s exactly what it says on the tin. It is about finding and using the ability to tune your thoughts and your mind into the specific muscles that you are working at a particular moment. What do i mean by that? Well let me give you some examples.

How many times have you gone to the Gym or done a workout with a specific goal in mind, or even followed a programme for a period of time, and then come away disappointed. You haven’t really felt it the next day, weren’t sore in the areas you expected to be sore, or simply after a period of time, just weren’t getting the results that you expected. It is very possible, even likely that the reason for this is that you weren’t correctly working the muscles you intended to work, and therefore just weren”t getting the results you wanted.

Again I’ll give you some examples. You are working your chest doing some form of press (bench press, dumbbell press, incline press), but instead of getting a good chest pump and soreness the next day your triceps give out first or you feel pain in your shoulder joints. The same may go for shoulder press where you end up using triceps, Lat pull downs where you end up using biceps etc etc.

Another common fault is where people try to use too heavy weights and end up swinging them into position or forcing them up, thus using a whole variety of different muscles and muscle groups, other than the one your are actually trying to work.

In short people are not actually thinking about what they are doing and not focusing their mind on what they want to achieve and how to go about doing it. This is often driven by ego. Lets be honest we have all been guilty of trying to outdo the guy next to us in the Gym, or just throw some extra weight on in the hope that extra weight equals extra muscle.

The solution to this is very simple and there are three or four key elements that if you use correctly and every time, will have a really dramatic impact on the results you achieve.

Key Mind Tips:

These are my key mind tips which if you use will boost your gains and results enormously.

  1. The first is really simple. Concentrate on the specific muscle you want to work while doing the exercise. Feel that actual muscle contracting and extending and whilst doing the concentric part of the movement really try to squeeze the muscle as hard as you can. Do that for each rep, and at the same time, try as much as possible not to engage or use other muscles around it. This is quite hard at first but with a bit of practise it comes naturally.
  2. Concentrate on form and tempo, and lower the weights from what you would normally do. This is vital. To start with lower the weights around 20/25% from what you would normally use. Do each rep slowly and concentrate on squeezing the weight up (or down) and then controlling it slowly on the way back down. Believe me this is really hard and there is no way you will do full sets with the amount of weight you normally use if you do it this way. The eccentric or lowering phase if done really slowly is just as important as the lift or squeeze itself.
  3. Use a full range of motion. Use strict form, don’t swing the weight up which often shortens the lift, and when lowering the weight really feel the stretch of the muscle and open up the joint as much as possible whilst still keeping it under control.
  4. Finally, try to keep the muscle you are using under tension the whole time. What this often means is that you won’t quite lock out at either the top of the bottom of the movement. By doing this you ensure that the muscle being used is constantly under tension, constantly being used and gets no sneaky little rests.

Watch this guys video here. He covers a number of these points and demonstrates what i mean about controlling the reps, really focusing on the specific muscle you are trying to work, and keeping tension in the muscle.

As I already said, if you do this strictly you will find your workouts will change immensely. Number one you’ll be super tired after completing them. Number two, you’ll be very sore the next day (and hopefully in all the right places). Number three, you will absolutely have to use lower weights, but Number Four, don’t worry about that because after a month of doing this you will make monster gains in both your muscle size and strength.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Please give it a try and I’d really welcome your comments and thoughts once you have done it. if you enjoy the article please share, comment, like etc etc blah blah.

Take Care,

John

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The No Plan Training Plan!!

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workout-diaryHi Everyone,

I hope you are sitting down as what I’m about to say might shake your world just a little bit. At the very least it will send any professional coaches or trainers reading this into meltdown. Here goes…….”I’m a big fan of not having a training plan!!”  There I’ve said it, you can pull yourself up off the floor now.

Let me try to put a little context around that bold statement. I know that the entire industry revolves around fitness and training plans. Magazines, Websites and many trainers base their entire income and life around designing and coaching fitness, training and workout plans. So who am I to diss them so easily? Well the answer is, I’m no-one, and I’m not dissing them…well not completely.

This site is Ordinary Guy Fitness and for many ordinary people trying to stick to a hard and fast training and diet regime can be very tough. I’m not talking about mentally but more so just because our lives are complex and busy. You may be able to get to the gym 4 times this week but only twice next. You can prep your meals and eat healthily for the next few days but then are going to be away on business and eating out a lot, etc etc.

Don’t get me wrong, properly designed training and eating plans 100% work BUT in the real world, hand on heart, are you always going to stick to it?

time-for-fitness

No Plan:

So what exactly am i proposing…..that you have no plan at all and just turn up and wing it whenever you can? No, absolutely not. That definitely won’t work. However there is a middle way, a way that builds flexibility, some creativity and a longer term approach into your health and fitness. Here is how it works, or at least how I utilise these ideas myself.

Firstly you need to understand what it is that you are trying to achieve, and ideally this should be a medium to long term goal. So the best example I can give is myself. What’s my longer term goals? Well i want to be fit and healthy, able to run, play some sports, look good in clothes and on the beach well into my 60’s (I’m currently heading for 48). That’s the long term goal. The medium term (next couple of years) is to hit 50 looking and being as fit and buff as possible. Shorter term (next 6/9 months) is to gain as much muscle as I can over the next 4 months and then get as cut as I possibly can in time for summer and possibly, finally, at long last reveal some proper six pack abs.

So you would think that to achieve that I need a proper plan right? Not necessarily. What I have is a broad brush , high level plan, and then I just change the day to day components to suit how I’m feeling, what I’m doing and what’s happening in my life.

So for example. I know that to gain muscle I have to train all the main body parts – Shoulders, Back, Chest, Arms, Legs, Abs probably a couple of times a week plus throw in some good cardio/fitness work. A traditional plan would probably split that into something like a 5 day routine with a couple of push days, a couple of pull days and a cardio day. Or 5 days of 2 bodypart splits etc. You would then stick to that routine pretty rigidly for 2 to 3 months.

I’m not suggesting anything radically different to that, I just like to take a slightly more intuitive approach based on what I’m “feeling”. Here is what I mean. I may go to the gym on Monday and blitz a Chest and Triceps session, maybe with a little Abs to end. Then Tuesday I might do Back and Shoulders. So logically Wednesday should be Legs and Biceps right? However , If I came out of Monday’s session thinking “you know what, i really didn’t feel my Triceps and wimped out a bit on them, I’m gonna do them again today”….that’s fine, do what you feel is best. Then the next day you hit the Biceps and Legs. Day after that you should probably do Chest and Triceps again but you’ve already done those twice so maybe do Chest and Shoulders. Just mix it up as and when you feel it’s right.

I know that sounds confusing but it really isn’t. It’s just about doing what your body and mind feels is the best to do on that day. You know in your own mind that you need to train all your body parts regularly AND do cardio. None of you are dumb and can remember what you have been doing over the last week or two so just adjust and flex as you go along. Rather than a weekly plan, have a more holistic 3 to 4 week plan where you roughly speaking hit everything that you need to equally during that period. This has so many positives for your training and lifestyle.

  • It means you don’t get stale by following the same routine all the time
  • It means that if you are really sore and need to rest a body part, fine, just hit something else
  • It means if you feel a body part is lagging behind, or you need to focus on weight loss or need to bulk up you can do it. Hell I’ve trained Biceps 3 days on the trot sometimes….it’s not against the law. Going off plan isn’t illegal despite what your PT says.
  • It means that if your life gets in the way and you can’t train as often or when you want you just adjust things. Do 3 bodyparts or a whole body workout for a few sessions.
  • By having an overall strategic plan but not a rigid daily plan you don’t feel like you are letting yourself down when you miss something out.
  • It’s fun. Last Friday I drove to the Gym with no idea what I was going to do and in the end did a load of stretching , made up a HiiT routine and then went on the rowing machine. I loved it. Follow your intuition.

Psychologically I really think this works. So many people set off on a training regime with fantastic intentions. Then something happens, an injury, family commitments, work issues etc. They fall off the plan for a week or two and their mind set changes. They believe they can’t get going again, become despondent “this damn fitness stuff is just too hard!!” and they give up. Having a “No plan, plan” helps with that because you haven’t really missed anything or let anyone down.

The critical thing is, you DO need to understand what your targets and goals are. You need to know that when you gaze into the distance, you do have a specific destination. As long as you get there at roughly the time you want and in the shape you want, does it really matter what route you take?

So if you have an organised life and can follow a strict plan fantastic, that will work for you. If not, if your life is a bit more chaotic like the rest of us, then ditch the rigid plan and follow your instincts. To recap, here are my top tips.

  • Have an overall plan of what you want to achieve some way down the track
  • Figure out the things you need to do regularly to get there.
  • Incorporate all of those things regularly and semi methodically into your routine BUT mix it up based on what’s happening in your life and how you feel.
  • Adjust the plan (or no plan) regularly based on the progress you are making and what you feel needs extra focus and work.
  • Above all, be happy with yourself and enjoy what you are doing.

Take Care,

John

As always if you enjoyed this post please comment, like, share, subscribe etc. My other social media links are below.

ALSO – Don’t forget. If you want my fantastic OG Fitness home workout exercise bands please visit Amazon here . The price has just reduced for Christmas and if you use my special discount code of OGSALE01 you will get a further 15% off at checkout.

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Go Basic to IGNITE Muscle growth!!

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muscle-mass-ignition_logoI was driving to the gym this morning and was just a bit stuck……..what was I going to do today? When you go 4/5 times a week as I do , even for the most committed trainer, there are days when you just fancy a change. It’s very easy to become stuck in a bit of a rut and just do the same things day after day. There are two big problems with this. Firstly, from a physical perspective, there comes a time when the exercises just stop working. Your body is an incredible machine and adapts very quickly. If you do the same workouts week after week then within 2 to 3 months your body will adapt, recognise what’s coming and just stop responding. Growth slows down and you hit what is known as a training plateau.

The second problem is that you become mentally stale. It becomes the same old same old, and when that happens, much as you might try to kid yourself, you just stop working so hard. Less effort, less intensity equals less response, less growth, less fitness.

So as I looked out of the window at the first really wet morning of the Autumn, it came to me. I’m going to do what I haven’t done for far too long and really go back to basics. What do I mean by that?

The Basics:

Well it really is as simple as it sounds. When you first start out in weight training or body building you learn about the main Compound Lifts. These are the big exercises that typically work multiple muscle sets and multiple joints at once. When you are starting out the idea is normally to do something like a full body workout comprising of about 3 to 4 sets of 5 or 6 exercises, and do that 3 times a week. When you do that your body initially responds at an amazing rate. You get stronger and fitter very quickly and you train your muscles, tendons, joints and nerves to cope with lifting heavy weights.

But then what happens?? Well, we all become experts. We believe we have moved beyond all “that basic stuff” and can really start to specialise. We start trying to isolate tiny little muscle groups and to hone our physique, with the net result that by neglecting the basics we unwittingly stall our own progress.

So today I decided to change that. I was going to go back to basics, and not only that but twice a week for at least the next month I’m going to hammer those basic exercises and try to really ignite a fire under my muscle growth AND my strength.

You may be asking WHY these basic exercises work so well and there are a number of reasons. Firstly they are bigger body part exercises which enable you to lift and shift heavier poundages. Heavier weights leads to more muscle, it’s a pretty unavoidable conclusion. Secondly the effort of doing these “all body” type exercises and lifting heavier weights shocks your body into action. It forces the body to react and one of the ways it does this is to release chemicals and endorphins into your body, a couple of which are HGH (Human growth hormone) and Testosterone. I won’t bore you with the science but if you want to become bigger and stronger then both of these are essential ingredients. As you get older your body naturally produces less of these and the best way to stimulate their production is to hit some big compound exercises on a regular basis. More of these in your system combined with eating right WILL grow your muscles.

The final big plus point is that doing this sort of workout not only fires up your muscle growth but it also fires up your metabolism. Hitting a heavy, all body workout, especially if you don’t rest for too long between sets ignites your metabolism and keeps it burning for many hours after you finish training….net result, you burn more calories, lose fat and lose weight. So to capture what I’ve just said in one short paragraph.

Include a full body compound lift routine into your workouts on a regular basis. It will fuel fantastic muscle growth, make you stronger AND help to burn more fat. What’s not to love?

So without further ado here is what I did today.

  • Squats – about 7 sets. Starting with a warm up set of 15 reps with just the 20kg bar. Then a set of 12 with 60kg, set of 10 with 80kg, 2 sets of 6 with 90kg and then finished with 2 more sets of 10 with 60kg
  • Bench Press – 8 sets. Warm up of 15 reps with the 20kg bar. 2 sets of 10 with 60kg, 2 sets of 6 with 70kg, 1 set of 4 with 80kg and back down to 1 set of 10 with 60kg and 1 set of 15 with 40 kg.
  • Deadlifts – I have a knackered lower back so have to be very careful with these, so kept it much lighter than I am able to lift and concentrated on great form. I also incorporated a shrug at the top. Did a simple 6 sets of 8 with 50kg (Yes i know that is baby weights!!)
  • Pull Ups – This is really simple, just aimed to do 50 in as short a time as possible. Didn’t keep too much track of sets but it ended up being something like 10, 8, 8, 6, 6, 6, 4, 2. Sounds easy but I’m not great at these and it killed me.
  • Military Press – Again I’m not great at these as have a weak left shoulder so again concentrated on good form. 5 sets of 10 with 40kg.

That was it, job done. I threw in 3 planks just to do a little Ab work (although these get heavily used for stability during compound lifts) and walked out of the door feeling like a born again caveman!!

untitledNot only that but it was fun (although I’m feeling it already and trying to get up the stairs was more difficult than it should have been). I really enjoyed it and as I said at the top I’m going to throw this in twice a week for a month and see what happens. Try it. It really works. If you are like me and have been training for a long time it is really easy to forget about the basics. Go back to some big heavy compound lifts and a proper full body routine on a regular basis and you will definitely notice great results and great muscle growth.

Take Care

John

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New Video….Resistance Bands!!

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Hi Everybody,

I promised you some more videos and here is the next one. The video is fairly self explanatory so I’ll keep the notes brief, although there are a few things i want to say.

Resistance Bands:

Firstly in the video itself the exercises I am doing look pretty easy and I’m sure that will be putting some guys or hardened trainers off. As I said in my previous post , if you are a hard core body builder or strength athlete these may not be for you, but for everybody else Resistance Bands are a great addition to your workout equipment and perfect for home use. In this video I am only using 1 band but by using the higher resistance ones or adding 2, 3 ,4 or even 5 bands you can really make the exercises much more difficult.

The second thing I’d add is that Resistance Bands are fantastic for people who either have injuries that they live with and have to work around, or who are recovering from injury. The ability to add or decrease resistance as needed but also to change the angle and approach to exercise’s mean that they can be very forgiving for various type’s of muscle, ligament or tendon damage, and you can build up strength, tone and muscle without risking further damage.

Resistance bands are also perfect for beginners, people who don’t belong to gyms, or ladies looking to tone their bat wing arms or other saggy parts but who don’t want the expense or hassle of going to a gym.

Finally they are extremely light, convenient, easy to travel with and very inexpensive compared to either a gym membership or buying your own sets of weights for home use. It makes them one of the perfect additions to your home use equipment.

I hope you enjoyed the video and as i say at the end, please watch this space for the opportunity to get great discounts on Ordinary Guy Fitness Resistance Bands and other products that will be coming soon.

Regards

John

Join The Band to Build Muscles & Get Fit!

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Don’t panic, we’re not talking music here (I’m tone deaf). We are talking about what i rate as the single best piece of home workout equipment you can buy. Watch the video, read the article and scroll right down to the bottom for some exciting news!!

Resistance Bands:

So what exactly are resistance bands and why do i rate them so highly? They are simply a set of latex tubes that come with handles, feet and door attachment. Usually they come in a set with 5 different colour tubes or bands and each has different resistance levels. By attaching all 5 bands you can really ramp up the weight/resistance to some quite high levels. I wrote in a previous article about these and some other pieces of essential home equipment but to me these are top of the list.

Why? Well because they are just so versatile. You can replicate probably 80% of the exercise’s that you can do in even the most well equipped Gym with just one piece of equipment that fits in a drawer. You can take it on holiday or business trips with you. They work equally effectively for beginners or for pretty serious trainers who are looking to build solid muscle. Resistance bands are also a little more forgiving on muscles, joints and tendons for those that have injuries or those who are perhaps getting on in years slightly. They are also perfect for ladies that either don’t want to go to the Gym or have busy lives with kids etc and want something they can do at home for 20 minutes a day.

They take a little getting used to and certainly a bit of experimentation to find the angles and exercises that work best for you, and that target the muscles that you want to target. However with a little practise you will find that you can work Shoulders, Chest, Biceps, Triceps and your entire back very easily. Working those leg muscles and Abs are a little more complex but still perfectly possibly.

Now i know that there are a load of guys out there shaking their heads and saying “resistance bands?? Really? They are for wimps!”  To a degree I can’t argue with that. If you are an advanced body builder or weight lifter then resistance bands cannot replace going to a gym and just shifting a shedload of heavy weights. If you are really trying to build massive muscles then resistance bands are not going to do it for you. However this blog is called Ordinary Guy Fitness and it aims to cater to the majority of people who want to get fit, lead healthier lifestyles and definitely tone up and build some muscle. For that aim these are perfect.

An additional, and for many people an essential benefit, is also the cost. Gym memberships generally speaking are expensive. Exercise classes are expensive and any sort of personal trainer is definitely expensive. I’m not putting you off of any of those things as I use or have used all of them, but many people are no fortunate enough to have the spare cash and in those cases a one of payment of maybe £20 or $25/27 is a very inexpensive way to buy a piece of equipment that can help you get fit and build some muscle.

If you want some tips on how to use the bands or incorporate them into your existing workout programme then drop me an email or comment and I’ll do my best to respond.

That’s it for this article. I will make it a mission to do my own video showing as many different band exercise’s as possible in the near future.

However at the top I promised you some exciting news. A couple of weeks ago in this blog post I talked about Ordinary Guy Fitness possibly offering some products that will help with your fitness, health and training goals. Well in a couple of weeks the first couple of products will be rolling off the production line and will be available on Amazon with Ordinary Guy Fitness branding and guarantee. Not only that but the very first products available will be Ordinary Guy Fitness Resistance Bands. Not only that but readers and subscribers to this blog , the Facebook page or my Twitter page will be given their very own discount codes that will not be available elsewhere. Make sure you don’t miss out. Go to the home page and subscribe to my email list now to make sure you don’t miss future posts and the release date.

Take Care,

John

Home Ab Workout to Blast Your Core!!

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Hi Everybody,

Just a really quick post today. Following some previous exercise and video posts one of the most frequent questions I’ve been asked is can i show an Ab workout that people can do at home with no equipment. The answer to that is yes, or course. There are probably a dozen really good Ab exercises you can incorporate into an Ab workout. Your abdominal and core muscles are really tough, you need to work them hard and regularly and they will improve rapidly. Here is a combination of 6 exercises. Do them for the required number of reps or time shown in the video. Once you have completed the circuit take about a minutes rest, then repeat 3-5 times.

Ab Blaster Exercises:

Leg Raises with Hip Thrust: Lay on your back. Hold your legs out in front of you. Depending how advanced you are you can do this with legs bent or almost straight. Using your Abdominal muscles lift your legs up 90 degrees. When you reach this point use your lower Ab muscles to thrust your hips and legs up to the sky in a controlled motion. Lower your legs, under control, back out in front of you. Do not allow them to touch the floor. That is one rep. Repeat 10 times.

Sit Up/Crunch With Twist: Lay on your back with your knees bent and slightly apart. Hold your hands together with arms extended behind your head. Using your abdominals sit up and crunch forward moving your arms to extension between your knees. Lower, under control back to the floor. That is one rep. Then repeat, this time when you reach the top twist and crunch to the left, then lower back to the floor. Finally repeat the sit up again but this time twist and crunch to the right. Do 12 reps. 3 for each part.

Windscreen Wipers: Lay flat on your back, arms at your sides. Raise both legs together up to 90 degrees above your body. Under control slowly lower them down to one side as far as you can reach tensing your Ab muscles and controlling your legs down. Pause without your legs touching the floor. Then lift and raise them back to the middle. That is one rep. Then repeat on the other side. Do 10 reps in total.

Russian Twists: Sit in a semi upright position, slightly leaning backwards. Lift your feet off the floor, cross your ankles and hold them there. Then without letting your feet touch the floor and continuing to lean slightly backwards twist your torso from side to side and touch your hands on the floor to either side of your body. Do 16 reps (8 each side). I would normally do this using a weight or medicine ball but this workout is with no equipment, hence no weight.

Side Plank: Laying on your side place your feet on top of each other. Then raise yourself up onto your elbow which should be directly under your shoulder. Use the arm to support yourself and ensure that your body is in an entirely straight line. Squeeze your hips, side and torso to make sure you hold your body perfectly straight with no dipping down. Hold for 20 seconds on the right side, then turn and do the same on your left side.

Front Plank: Lay face down on the floor. Raise yourself up onto both elbows again placed under your shoulders to support your body weight and lift up onto your toes. Again it is important to hold your body completely straight. Do not lift your bum in the air OR allow your hips to sag. Whilst holding the position squeeze your torso, glutes, abs and thighs as hard as you can. Hold the position for 30 seconds.

That’s it. As i said repeat 3-5 times and aim to do this or something very similar 4 or 5 times a week. You will make progress quickly and having a strong core and Abdominal muscles is incredibly beneficial for health, posture, overall fitness and makes a big difference to how you look and carry your self.

Take Care,

John

HiiT with Weights – My first Video!

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Hi Everybody,

I’m a shy retiring kind of guy at heart as my friends will tell you!! However I’m also on a mission to get my message on health, fitness, training and diet to as wide an audience as possible. So as a result I’ve had to bite the bullet and decide to start making YouTube video’s to post both on my website and other social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter etc. Believe me I find it slightly embarrassing at the moment but I guess I’ll get over that in time. Below is my first attempt and if I’m honest there are some mistakes in it. I’m sure I’ll get plenty of stick, especially from my friends, but I really would welcome your comments and thoughts, either on here or on the YouTube channel. If you like it then please like, share, subscribe etc.

HiiT with Weights:

This first video is an HiiT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout but with the added twist of using weights instead of just bodyweight exercises. I’m sure you all know the Body Coach Joe Wickes? He has done a fantastic job of getting the message out there about the positive benefits of HiiT, both in terms of fitness and weight loss or calorie burning. I want to take it up a gear by adding in some additional resistance in the form of weights. This will ensure that you still get that fabulous calorie burning metabolism boost from HiiT but at the same time get a little extra tweak in terms of toning and building some muscle. In this video I’m using 12.5kg/27.5lb dumbbells but you don’t have to do that. Anything from 1kg upwards is fine. This type of exercise would be perfect for all sorts of people from guys into building muscle who don’t want to do long boring cardio sessions on a treadmill or bike, to guys or girls who are looking to torch some fat, fire up their metabolism and tone up their thighs, butts, arms, shoulders and waists at the same time.

Here is the video, i hope you enjoy it and below are brief explanations of all of the exercises.

Dumbbell / Kettlebell Swings x 12: Traditionally this exercise is done with a kettlebell but a dumbbell is fine. Grip it firmly in both hands. Stand in a fairly wide (slightly more than shoulder width) stance. Swing down between your knees and at the same time bend your knees and at the waist slightly. Then swing your arms back up over head height and whilst doing that thrust up and forwards with your hips, concentrating on squeezing with your thighs and Glutes. Continue the same motion for 12 reps.

Shoulder Press x 12: This is pretty straightforward. Grasp both dumbbells firmly in your hands. Hold at shoulder height and push up above your head to full arm extension. Try to concentrate on lifting the weight with your shoulders rather than just using your triceps. The best way to do this is to concentrate on and think about mooving your shoulders up and towards your ears and initiating the movement from there rather than pushing through your elbows.

Goblet Squats x 12: Hold the weight at mid / upper chest level in both hands. Feet should be in a fairly wide (slightly wider than shoulder width) stance. Lower down into a deep squat (as deep as you can go) keeping the weight in front of you at chest level. Push back up by squeezing your thighs and glutes. Repeat 12 times.

Renegade Rows x 12: This is a tough exercise and some ladies unless pretty strong may struggle with it slightly. If that is the case just substitute in standard press ups or even knee press ups. Get down into a standard press up position using the dumbbells to support your weight. Lower down into a press up / push up. When you push back up and reach the top row (or pull up) one of the weights towards your arm pit, then lower back to the floor and repeat on the other side. This works your chest, arms, back and core muscles and will get you blowing.

Alternate Leg Lunges x 12: Most of you will have seen this before. Hold the weights at arm length by your sides. Take a large step forward with one leg and bend down towards the floor until your back knee touches or almost touches the ground. Then push firmly back up with your front leg and move back into a standing position. Then do the same on the other side. Do 12 reps or 6 on each side.

Bicep Curls x 12: This is usually a fairly easy exercise but by now you will be tired and blowing hard. Do not cheat the dumbbells up. Concentrate on keeping your body straight, do not lean back and swing them up. Curl the dumbbell upwards by squeezing your biceps hard.

That’s it. One circuit complete. Aim to do 3-6 sets depending how fit you are. It’s tougher than it looks especially as you start to up the weights. For most ladies I’d suggest starting with 1kg-4kg weights. For guys anything between 5kg and 10kg (unless of course you have been training for a while and are a strong, fit guy). The idea is not to shift massive amounts of weight but to train at high intensity burning lots of calories and firing up your metabolism for hours afterwards, by adding in the weights you will increase the workload and also tone and build muscle at the same time.

So that’s it. My first video. Feel free to poke fun (my friends) or make comments etc. As i said the videos will improve as i go along but it’s the content not the style that I’m more concerned with, after all this is “Ordinary Guy Fitness” and I’ve never claimed to be Stephen Spielberg. Above all I hope you enjoy and if you do then please like the posts, share the posts, comment on the posts and subscribe to my email list , Facebook page or YouTube channel.

Take care,

John

PS; The external link to the video is https://youtu.be/IXyi5Qr0yGk