By Eric Wong, BSc, CSCS

Strength and conditioning are keys to MMA success. Your MMA workout must develop all of the components you need for mixed-martial arts. In the past many athletes could get away with mediocre conditioning if they were highly skilled martial artists, but if you look at today’s UFC champs, they’re all highly skilled and in great shape.

So if you’re training MMA, to get the most out of your mixed-martial arts classes, you need to be in good shape.

If you’re not in top shape, you’ll be more focused on your fatigue and breathing than on perfecting the details of the techniques you’re learning.

And without good technique, you’ll waste more energy, creating a vicious cycle. If you’re out of shape, you need to focus on your base conditioning, before you can get the most out of your skills training. And if you’re in OK shape, getting
into great shape will further enhance what you already know.

Discover the 9 Key Components an Effective MMA Workout MUST Have (or you’re just wasting your time and energy)

1) Workouts to develop all 3 energy systems: aerobic, anaerobic lactic (glycolytic), anaerobic alactic (ATP-CP)

• The Anaerobic alactic system gives you high-power for 10 seconds – that’s the energy system you need to train to knock your opponent out or get an explosive takedown
• The Anaerobic lactic system gives you that burning feeling – it’s what you need when you’re in a heavy clinch or doing a lot of grappling
• The Aerobic system helps you stay fresh and recover between rounds

2) Exercises designed to enhance movements specific to mixed-martial arts

Example #1 – Many people hate on bicep curls but they’re necessary to hold underhooks when standing or to defend an armbar, so they must be a part of the program

Example #2 – Powerful strikes come from having a high level of dynamic core stability in the rotational (transverse) plane of motion, so exercises like medicine ball side tosses are necessary

3 planes of motion

3) Exercises that work all 3 planes of motion: sagittal, frontal, and transverse

• Most exercises that you do are predominantly in the sagittal plane: Bench press, Squat, Deadlift
• Examples of frontal plane exercises include Side bridges and Turkish getups
• The transverse plane is where you earn your bonus for Knockout of the Night: again, Medicine ball side tosses are a great exercise for pure development of this plane

4) A workout program that doesn’t make you too sore so you can effectively train their MMA skills. If you’re following a standard bodybuilder or powerlifter routine, you’re going to get sore and it will hurt your ability to perform MMA techniques with proper form because the body always avoids pain when it can.
5) An effective MMA workout program must not put on too much muscle mass (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, like bodybuilding) – instead the focus must be on strength and muscle density (myofibrillar hypertrophy)
6) A progression scheme that peaks your conditioning level for the fight, taking into consideration the typical volume and intensity of MMA training leading to the fight

7) A workout program that doesn’t demand more than 3 days a week of strength and conditioning. Anymore than this will surely detract from MMA skills training

8 ) Exercises that will train all 8 biomotor abilities: strength, power, endurance, speed, agility, co-ordination, balance, and flexibility
9) Exercises that will help prevent common injuries to fighters:

Example – the shoulder is often a problem with fighters, especially those who rely on their boxing, which causes overdevelopment of the anterior deltoid and demands a lot of anterior acceleration of the humerus in the capsule – so to minimize the impact on the joint itself, the muscles that are responsible for deceleration (external rotators, posterior deltoid, scapular stabilizers) must be strengthened eccentrically

All of these points are essential to the complete physical development for a mixed-martial artist. There are many basic strength programs out there, like the 5×5 and Starting Strength programs, but they leave out some crucial elements such as training the transverse plane that is responsible for developing KO power.

Not to say that these programs are not beneficial, they definitely are better than doing something randomly or not doing anything at all, but they are not specific to MMA athletes, they are generalized strength programs.

Then there are the general conditioning programs, like CrossFit. Although they can be very challenging, they are random workouts with no goal in mind other than to make you sweat, again providing a more general type of fitness instead of the specific requirements needed by a mixed-martial artist as outlined in this article.

If you’re currently working out, look at the points in this article and add in what is missing and you’ll surely feel the impact on what matters most – your MMA performance.

But if you’re a serious mixed-martial artist, you know the value of having a good coach, and now you can have your own strength and conditioning coach in your corner.

The Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning Program takes everything that you’ve learned here puts it together in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step program. Grab your copy today:

Click Here to Discover a Complete

MMA Workout Program Designed

for Serious Fighters ONLY

Kettlebells are a total body conditioning tool used by many world class athletes to improve their strength, endurance, and to increase lean muscle mass. But Kettlebells can also be a great fat burning tool, especially for busy women.

This is because you can get an effective workout within 20 minutes. And, as you become more and more advanced, you will be able to learn exercises that literally train 80-90% of your entire body with one movement.

One such exercise is the Turkish Get Up. The Turkish Get Up requires you laying down on the ground and holding a Kettlebell straight out above your head. The goal of the movement is to get up off the floor while keep the Kettlebell held above your head.

Then, lie back down on the ground. This movement works your entire boy including shoulders, chest, abs, legs, back, and arms. Here’s how to perform a Kettlebell Turkish Get Up:

But the true beauty in Kettlebell workouts lie in ballistic movements such as swings, cleans, and snatches. These three movements often make up the back bone of good, effective Kettlebell Programs.

Here is a great workout which features all three exercises:

Creating your own Kettlebell workouts is fairly easy. Take one 2-4 movements and perform either in a superset or circuit training fashion. Supersets are the easiest way to develop a program.

Supersets are where you perform two exercises back to back with little to no rest in between each set. An example would be to perform 5 Kettlebell Turkish Get Ups with each hand followed by 10 Kettlebell Swings with each hand.

Rest 60 seconds and repeat.

For more Kettlebell Workouts and Information, check out Turbulence Training Kettlebell Revolution.

Kettlebells can be a great tool for losing fat. It’s unique shape and high intensity exercises will give you an incredibly tough workout. Just like most implements, you can design a training program to achieve your goals by modifying a few key parameters.

For example, in order to develop a Killer Cardio workout using Kettlebells, you want to stick to exercises that you can perform easily, and ones that train a large part of your body at once.

Kettlebell swings come to mind almost immediately. The Kettlebell Swing is the most basic Kettlebell movement out there, and one which can be learned by almost anyone.

Here’s how to perform the Kettlebell swing:

Another great Kettlebell exercise is the Kettlebell Thruster, which is a combination of a Squat and Overhead Press. This movement is tougher than it looks. Beginners may need to perform the squat and press separately to begin with.

Here’s how to perform the Kettlebell Thruster:

Now putting together your routine can be either the toughest thing you’ve done, or the easiest. It’s up to you. People have emailed me with complicated questions about their training programs.

I’m usually able to respond with a very simple solution. Most workouts depend on one thing: what are you capable of? Beginners should probably start off with taking more rest then they feel necessary.

Advanced trainees can experiment with unique high intensity techniques such as a supersets, circuit training, and interval training. Beginners can do supersets, but they will probably need to modify them and take a break between each of the two exercises they choose to alternate with.

One of the best ways to help you with your intervals is to use the GymBoss Interval Timer. It costs just $19.95, and you can program it to help you keep track of any sort of intervals you may use. Click here to grab yours today.

For more Kettlebell Workouts and Training Techniques, check out Turbulence Training Kettlebell Revolution.

Click here for more information

Overlooked Secrets to Building Rock Hard Six-Pack Abs

Overlooked Secrets to Building Rock Hard Six-Pack Abs
By John Leotardo

If you’re like many people out there who want to lose their belly fat and gain those amazing looking six-pack abs, then there are some things you should know before you begin your journey. Neither diet or exercise alone will help you achieve your goals. You will need to incorporate a combination of both in order to keep the fat off and the muscle showing!

People who do hundreds of sit-ups or crunches per week are often stumped as to why they are not getting any results. The answer is simple; you absolutely cannot spot reduce fat on your body! Just because you are targeting your abdominal muscles with exercises doesn’t mean you will reduce any amount of fat there. You can build up muscle anywhere on your body at any time, but if there is a layer of fat covering it, you’ll never even see it. The key to getting those new muscles to show is to lose fat all throughout the body. Cardio, such as jogging, is probably one of the most effective and easy ways to lower your overall body fat.

Since muscle burns the most amount of calories, increasing the general muscle mass of your body through weight training will help to speed your metabolism up and help you burn fat, even while you are sleeping. You don’t need to lift 100 or 200 pound weights to achieve this, either. Start small, but keep a consistent schedule and you will soon notice that your body fat is slowly being replace by lean muscle. Before long, you’ll see that crunches and sit-ups will actually start to produce results because you have lowered your overall body fat.

Click Here to Learn about One of the Best Ab Workout Programs Ever!

If you are interested in learning more secrets about getting rock hard abdominals, then check out the truth about abs. This site has sections for both men and women, so anyone seeking the truth on how to get that awesome six-pack can get started right away. Get more info by visiting http://www.ab-truth.info. Check it out today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Leotardo
http://EzineArticles.com/?Overlooked-Secrets-to-Building-Rock-Hard-Six-Pack-Abs&id=3425918

This article links out to a product. If you purchase this product, I recieve a percentage of the sale. Click here to read my disclaimer.

The following is a guest post from Nathan Donahue from Kettlebell Planet.

I first learned about Russian Kettlebells in 2002 while reading Pavel Tsatsouline’s Power to the People. As a competitive powerlifter I was always looking for new ways to get stronger and Pavel’s writing was very interesting and informative. In the back of his book was an ad that boasted, “Burn body fat without the dishonor of cardio!” Now, as a big fat powerlifter that really interested me because running sure didn’t! At the time of reading that ad I was 23 years old and lifting in the 242 lbs (110 kg) weight class. I was big strong and really out of shape. I loved powerlifting and being huge but carrying all that blubber was unsightly and unhealthy.

Click here for a Great Kettlebell Training Program

I spent a few days reading about kettlebells online, back then it was just Dragon Door promoting them, and finally bought one 35 lbs kettlebell. It was pretty expensive at the time to buy a kettlebell and have it shipped across the US border to Canada so I was kind of regretting my purchase as I waited for delivery. But when the kettlebell finally arrived I was like a kid at Christmas and tore open that box!

After my parents were done asking me what the hell I just spent my money on, I finally got to try this crazy tool. My first time with the kettlebell I popped in the VHS (yes, VHS) and went through Pavel’s workout. It was brutally hard for me and my technique was appalling. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to do a darn kettlebell swing. I kept lifting the kettlebell like a weight and messing up the movement. It took me 4 days to finally figure out how to do the two handed kettlebell swing but once I got the hang of it I started to really enjoy kettlebell training.

At the time my workout schedule was high volume powerlifting training 4 days a week and kettlebell 3 days a week. That is a lot of volume and I would not recommend it for anyone else, but I was a crazy kid so what can you do? I trained with the kettlebell for 30-45 minutes each time and almost passed out each time. I would blast heavy metal and just go crazy swinging, cleaning and snatching that thing until I had to lie down to avoid passing out! Remember I was both fat and out shape so kettlebell training was very demanding for me. I really was not used to the oxygen debt you experience when training with them. Picture running sprints and lifting weights at the same time. Would that lean you out? Would it be really, really demanding? Well, that’s exactly what it was like for me.

Click here for a Great Kettlebell Training Program

Click here for a Great Kettlebell Training Program

In four weeks I lost about 20 lbs of fat! I kid you not. I lost weight so fast I could actually notice a difference in my belly every time I worked out! I lost fat so quick my little sister did a double take of me in the kitchen one afternoon. Nobody could believe it, even me! Keep in mind, all the weight lifting I was doing had built muscle, but I had layers of fat on top of it. During this period I was not dieting or changing my weight training at all. The only factor I changed was adding kettlebells and that was only 30-45 minutes, 3 times a week! Kettlebell training had literally melted the fat off my body but that was not all. My powerlifts did not decrease as some would suspect. In fact, my squat increased nicely because all the dynamic lifts with the kettlebell had improved my explosiveness. This was really evident in the vertical jump. I must have gained three inches on my vertical jump from kettlebell lifts! It was crazy. I was leaner, stronger and faster than I had ever been. All from throwing around this big metal ball for about 2 hours a week that no one had even heard of!

Ever since then kettlebell training has been a very important part of my regime and I recommend it to anyone who needs to lose weight or improve their fitness levels. Getting started with kettlebells is easier than you think too. It might be a little intimidating at first because those bells are mean looking, but it shouldn’t be. Trust me, they work and they are fun for men and women! In fact, kettlebells will help sculpt a women’s physique to perfection because it will not build muscle mass but will simple melt off the fat and tighten up the muscles.

Click here for a Great Kettlebell Training Program

Getting Started

Here is the best process to follow if you are interested in kettlebells.

• Do some internet research and find a good kettlebell and kettlebell materials vendor. I have done well with Mike Mahler and Dragon Door respectively.
• Purchase one kettlebell, a video and a book.
  • If you are a man purchase a 35 lb/16 kg kettlebell
  • If you are a women purchase an 18 lb/8 kg kettlebell
  • It may seem light but you need to start with high reps for maximum learning ability
• While waiting for your kettlebell package to arrive, start preparing the body for the exertion to come
  • Body weight squats, push-ups, lunges, sit-ups and the like done in a circuit would be a good start
• Once your kettlebell package does arrive, first cheer, next get really serious. It is pain time!

Click here for a Great Kettlebell Training Program

• Okay use the video and the book to learn the kettlebell two handed swing. This move is the foundation which all other drills will be based on. Do not progress past the kettlebell swing until you have truly mastered it. I cannot emphasize how important snapping the hips is in this movement. Do not lift with your back or shoulders, simply snap the hips forward and send the kettlebell moving through the air. Your arms should act like a rope that the bell is tied to.
  • Swing, swing and swing until you can’t do it anymore!
  • Sets and reps are not too important at this stage but aim for as many reps as possible each workout
• Once you have mastered the swing, now start learning all the other great kettlebell drills, you won’t be sorry (unless you hate sore muscles and hard work)
• Upon mastering many of the other kettlebell drills such as the clean, high pull and snatch, consider purchasing a heavier kettlebell or a second one of the same size.
  • Using two instead of one is VERY demanding and will really turn your workout up a notch
  • Using one heavier kettlebell is great also and you can even use different weights at the same time!

Click here for a Great Kettlebell Training Program

I would love to spend more time explaining specific drills to you but the professionals who make kettlebell videos can do a better job. Learn from them and then see what is new on the internet when you need inspiration. Check out youtube.com and my kettlebell blog for great ideas and tips on keeping your kettlebell workouts fresh!

• Check out Nathan’s blog Kettlebell Planet, for more Kettlebell info!
• Also check out BigTimeWeightLoss.com and BigTimeWeightLoss.Blogspot.com to get a head start on your fat loss!
• If you enjoyed this post, then don’t forget to subscribe via RSS Feed.
• How did you guys get started with kettlebells? Post your answer to comments.

Editor’s Note: Kettlebell training is still a rather new form of training, even though it was first developed in the 18th century in Russia. There are only a handful of really great instructors out there. The rest of them either are trying to be great, or are just plain bad.

Either way, your goal is someone who’s brand new to Kettlebell training is to keep learning. I personally try to get my hands on as many training guides as possible, especially since I can’t afford a coach or seminar. I’ve gotten pretty good at training on my own.

One of the best guides out there, is a brand new system just developed by Craig Ballantyne and Chris Lopez. Craig Ballantyne is the creator of Turbulence Training, one of the best home fitness programs on the market. Chris Lopez is the first Turbulence Training certified instructor.

Together, they’ve come up with a great program known as the Turbulence Training Kettlebell Revolution. This program is packed with exercises, workouts, and training techniques. Click here to learn more about the Turbulence Training Kettlebell Revolution program.

This article links out to a product. If you purchase this product, I receive a percentage of the sale. Click here to read my disclaimer.

My friend Harry asked me to develop a workout with the following specs:

1. Eight-exercise inverval
2. Challenging to the whole body
3. Doable at home with limited, inexpensive equipement
4. Fast
5. Can benefit all levels of fitness

So lets take this step by step. These are the pieces of equipment I have at home:

1. Jump Rope
2. Pull-up Bar
3. 300 lb Barbell Set
4. 15 LB Medicine Ball
5. 15 LB Dumbbell

Before we choose our exercises, we first need to figure out what interval pattern we’re using. My friend’s current workout is 1 minute work, with 1 minute rest. So the total workout would last 16 minutes. Not bad, but I think I can do better.

I remember reading about Alwyne Cosgrove’s Complex Training methods on Mike Mahler’s website. The idea is to do a bunch of exercises in a row with light weights and no rest. After the end of each circuit you rest and repeat the circuit. Here are the two complexes from Mike’s website:

Complex One
• Dead lift – 6 reps
• Romanian Dead lift – 6 reps
• Bent Over Row – 6 reps
• Power Clean – 6 reps
• Front Squat – 6 reps
• Push Press – 6 reps
• Back Squat – 6 reps
• Good Morning – 6 reps

Complex Two
• Snatch Grip Dead lift – 6 reps
• Snatch Pull – 6 reps
• Upright Row – 6 reps
• Power Snatch – 6 reps
• Reverse Lunge – 6 reps each leg
• Push Jerk – 6 reps
• Jump Squat – 6 reps

Click here for Some more Barbell, Dumbbell and Bodyweight Workouts

So lets develop these workouts using limited equipment:

Bodyweight Only Workout:

Hindu Push-ups
Bodyweight Squat
Sit-ups
Incline Pushups
Lunges
Leg Raises
Plyometric Pushups
Squat Jumps

Bodyweight + Pull-up Bar:

Hindu Pushups
Pull-ups
Bodyweight Squat
Sit-ups
Chin-ups
Incline Pushups
Lunges
Inverted Row

Click here to Learn over a 100 Bodyweight Exercises

Dumbbell Only Workout:

One-arm DB Clean and Press
One-arm DB Bent-over Row
One-arm DB Swing
One-arm DB Overhead Squat
T-pushups
One-arm DB Snatch
One-arm Renegade Row
Incline T-pushups

Click here for Some more Dumbbell – Only Workouts

Medicine Ball and Dumbbell Workout:

One-arm DB Clean and Press
Medicine Ball Wood chop
One-arm DB Bent-over Row
Medicine Ball Hay baler
One-arm DB Swing
One-arm DB Overhead Squat
Medicine Ball Overhead Squat
T-pushups

Click here for Some more Medicine Ball – Only Workouts

Ok, so the combinations are endless. Now lets take these workouts to the next level. Mike Mahler also has a workout on his website called HOC, or High Octane Cardio. It revolves around alternating between short cardio intervals and resistance training. I think jump roping is the best form of high intensity cardio. Here are my versions:

Beginner Routine:

Hindu Pushups
1 minute regular Jump Roping
Bodyweight Squat
1 minute regular Jump Roping
Pull-ups
1 minute regular Jump Roping
Sit-ups
1 minute regular Jump Roping
One-arm DB Clean and Press
1 minute regular Jump Roping
One-arm DB Bent-over Row
1 minute regular Jump Roping
Medicine Ball Wood chop
1 minute regular Jump Roping
Medicine Ball Hay baler
1 minute regular Jump Roping

Intermediate/Advanced Routines:

There are two Jump Roping tricks that I can do. These are the Cross-overs and Double Under. Cross-Overs are where you cross-over your arms across your chest and jump. Double unders are where you perform two jump for one swing of the rope. I also like to do some footwork drills.

Progression, sets and reps:

Start off the circuits with a cautious number of reps per exercise. The first round should be pretty easy and act as a warm-up. The next two or three rounds should be tougher. If you can do 5 rounds without sweating, then increase the reps.

Click here for Some more High Intensity Workouts

There really isn’t that much of a difference between strength endurance, maximal strength, and fat loss programs. As I was talking to a friend on Facebook:

Friend
10:20pm Jan 11th

u know its funny do u really have to run in order to build endurance? or are there other ways of doing it?

Me
12:42am Jan 12th

dang son. It’s OBVIOUS you haven’t been going to my website.

Friend
12:42am Jan 12th

lol hahaha

Me
12:53am Jan 12th

well, basically it depends on what kind of endurance you want to develop. I think the biggest thing that people don’t realize is that everything is connected. If you increase you base strength, it’ll help you increase your endurance.

Running distance will help with recovery. Calisthenics will help you improve your max lifts and vice versa. Your body is designed for survival, and hence all your workout should revolve around elements of ….well…EVERYTHING.

Does that make any sense?

Friend
1:09am Jan 12th

yes. how about if u wanted to lets say prepare yourself to be a mountain climber. or something that exerts ur body in such a way what would you have to work on endurance wise

Me
1:47am Jan 12th

Good question. I have a background in martial arts, which is basically a power and endurance sport. Mountain climbing is more of a strength endurance sport. You don’t need to exert maximal power in order to pull yourself up and climb a mountain, however you do need good agility, base strength, and flexiblity if you need move out of a region really quickly (if you’re in danger).

Now, just ask yourself a question: what the hell does running have to do with climbing a mountain? Nothing really. The best way to get better at mountain climbing is to climb mountains. 30 minutes on a Rowing machine is better than 30 minutes on a treadmill because of the type of trianing you’re doing.

Rowing is a fully body workout emphasising the back and the legs. Climbing is a fully body workout working the back and the legs. In addition, you’d want to work on your grip, lung capacity, and mental toughness.

Me
1:52am Jan 12th

What I’m trying to say is that in order to develop a decent training program you need to first identify the elements that you need to achieve your goal. Once you do that, you find out your weaknesses, and start building a routine around that.

I have a huge problem with typical bodybuilding routine because they’re typical bodybuilding routines, and focus only one one thing: making one muscle bigger without regard to any other qualities out there.

So if you wanna be a mountain climber, train like a mountain climber. If you want to be a gymnast, get yourself on some rings. If you want to lose fat, than do everything in your power to raise your metabolic rate.

But the most important thing is that you include as many parameters as possible, creating an element of randomness.

As you can see, a lot of high intensity exercise can help you improve multiple qualities at once, including endurance, fat loss, strength, and size. One fitness program that does this effectively is the Athletic Body Workout.

Click here to Grab your Copy of Athletic Body Workout

If you have very little time in your schedule to weight train, then you should try to maximize your time in the gym. Maximizing your time means sticking to compound exercises and picking a set/rep scheme based on your goals.

Compound Exercise per Bodypart:

Chest – Bench Press (Barbell, Dumbbell, Flat, Incline), Arm Pull-overs (Barbell, Dumbbell)

Back – Rows (Dumbbell, Barbell)

Legs – Squats (Barbell, Dumbbell, Back, Front, Overhead),

Shoulders – Clean & Press (Power, Hang), Shoulder Press (Barbell, Dumbbell, Push Press, Push Jerk, Arnold)

Sample 3-day template for Size and Strength:

Day One

Squat Variation 8×3

Bench Variation 8×3

Row Variation 8×3

Press Variation 8×3

Day Two

Squat Variation 5×5

Bench Variation 5×5

Row Variation 5×5

Press Variation 5×5

Day Three

Squat Variation 3×8

Bench Variation 3×8

Row Variation 3×8

Press Variation 3×8

Now, this is just a general template for you to use for increasing your strength and size with compound movements. If you’re looking for a more well-rounded fitness program using compound movements, than I suggest you check out Athletic Body Workout.

Click here to Grab your Copy of Athletic Body Workout Today!

In my One-arm Dumbbell Exercises instructional video, I demonstrated four dumbbell exercises that you can do in the comfort in your own home to increase your strength endurance, burn fat, and build muscle mass.

However, if your primary goal were to increase your maximal strength and power, you would have to use a slightly different approach to training.

The first change that you want to do is increase your rest periods. I was resting a minute after each circuit. For power, I can still combine all four exercises in a circuit, but would have to rest 3 minutes for full recovery.

This is because you need to recover fully when working on maximal strength qualities. Otherwise, if you’re using heavy weights and your form fails, you risk injuring yourself.

Frequency is another factor that you must change slightly. Based on your level of fitness, you may need a day or two of full rest before you do another power and strength dumbbell workout.

I like to work different fitness qualities every day to keep my body guessing and to also help aid recovery. For example, one day I’ll do some heavy strength training, then the next day I’ll do some light dumbbell work, then the following day I’ll either rest or experiment with a new exercise.

The idea is to feel it out. Most people can handle one or two really intense workouts per week.

When you’re working on strength and power, the only really good way of making your workouts progressively intense is to add weights. However, since we are talking about home training here, we may be limited to how much resistance one has access to.

Hence, another really good way of developing an intense workout and also helping to make you stronger is to gradually decrease your rest intervals, as you get better. So you may start out with a 3-minute rest in your first week, then drop down to 2 and a half-minute, etc.

This will force your body to recover faster.

Another way to increase your strength and power if you’re limited in weights is to gradually increase your sets. However, there will be a point where you will have to purchase heavier weights.

How many sets can you increase until the workout gets too boring or too long? However, I’d be very surprised if I came across a trainee performing 10 sets of an exercises using maximal weights and resting less than 30 seconds between each circuit.

The two exercises that are the best for developing power are the dumbbell clean and the dumbbell swing. These two exercises have the greatest carry over to sports and lifestyle fitness.

The overhead squat is your key to developing maximal strength. If they say that the barbell squat is the king of all exercises, then the one-arm overhead dumbbell squat is the king of all dumbbell exercises.

The optimal rep range for developing maximal strength is one to three reps, and the optimal rep range for developing power is 4 to 6 reps.

If you’re looking for an effective dumbbell routine to help you improve your size and strength, as well as allow you to burn fat and increase your athletic fitness, then I suggest grabbing a copy of Superior Dumbbell Workout.

Click Here to Grab your Copy Today!

When I was in high school, I loved to experiment. I still like to experiment, although my principles are more grounded than they were back then. I came across a website called Crossfit and was immediately mesmerized.

Their idea of constantly challenging yourself with a new stimuli and doing crazy things by combining forms of exercise that you wouldn’t normally combine drew me immediately to the WOD’s (Workout of the Day). I followed Crossfit WODs on and off throughout the years.

There are definitely certain things I love about Crossfit, but there are also things I don’t like:

PROS:

1. Trains your entire body in one session
2. Very good crossover between gym, real life, and sports
3. Incredibly effective method of burning fat
4. Very challenging and fun
5. Randomized stimuli keeps your body guessing

CONS:

1. Too much randomness
2. Not something a beginner can jump right into
3. Not very optimal for pure muscle mass
4. Athlete may have problems with recovery if they are not used to high intensity training
5. Does not seem to have a singular goal
6. Can be very confusing and frustrating to a typical gym goer
7. Huge learning curve

These are my personal beliefs about Crossfit. Overall, it is a very good program, but I have a problem with the fact that there really doesn’t seem to be much of a “program.” It seems like a bunch of workouts thrown in together. Over the years I’ve studied the programs both by reading message boards, comments on the main website, and trying out workouts on myself.

Hands down, a Crossfit approach to fitness is much more effective than a bodybuilding approach. Crossfit will help more people in their daily lives, and deliver faster results than a Bodybuilding approach.

This is because bodybuilding is a very specific form of training. A regular housewife has no business trying to put on a half inch on her arms, unless she’s training for a figure competition.

A truck driver has no business jogging on a treadmill for 30 minutes every morning, unless he’s cutting for a bodybuilding competition. What average people need is an exercise program that focuses on developing skills that carry over to normal life.

One program that uses the same form of athletic Crossfit training and workouts, without all the randomness, is the Athletic Body Workout. This is a program that beginners, intermediate, and advanced individuals can easily perform.

If you’re absolutely serious about developing a lean, athletic physique, then you need to grab a copy of the Athletic Body Workout. Click here to learn more about this incredible program.