Teaching you how to achieve superior health, leanness and performance.
March 8th, 2010 Milan
I designed this workout plan for my friend Zlatka.
Zlatka:
- Is 55 years old.
- Is sedentary and about 20 Lb overweight.
- She doesn’t like gym environment.
- She was diagnosed with pre-diabetes (high blood sugar level).
- Her doctor recommended to her to exercise.
- She is a strength training beginner.
If you are a strength training beginner and want a simple way to start in strength training, try this workout too.
It is a great way to add strength training to your fitness program.
Simple directions/direkcie
- Keep your back straight/translation to Slovak/Udrzujte vystrety chrbat.
- You should feel medium hard resistance, if not, go for more resistant band or make the one you are using shorter by steping on it higher/Malo by to natahovanie tej gumy byt stredne tazke, ked nie je skratte gumu stupnutim na nu vyzsie.
- Do 3 – 5 circles of these exercises/Urobte 3 az 5 okruhov tychto cviceni.
- Do this workout 3 times per week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays/Cvicte tento plan v Pondelok, Stredu a Piatok.
1.Biceps curl – 20 repetitions
2. Lateral shoulder raises – 20 repetitions
3. Chest press – 20 repetitions
4. Seated rows – 20 repetitions
5. Shoulder press – 20 repetitions
6. Biceps curl squat – 20 repetitions
Dont sit. Just touch the chair with your butt.
Nesadajte si. Len sa dotknite stolicky zadkom.
Beside doing this workout plan 3 times per week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Zlatka should do some cardiovascular exercise Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Since Zlatka is a beginner, fast walking for 30 minutes is a great option for her.
Translation to Slovak:
Zlatka, okrem vykonavania tohotoplanu 3 krat do tyzdna v Pondelok, Stredu a Piatok by ste este mali robit earobny trening- 30 minut rychlu chodzu v Utorok, Stvrtok, Sobotu a Nedelu.
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October 15th, 2009 Milan
If you are a beginner or an elderly person without gym membership, you can still enjoy full benefits of strength training. If you are not, print and give this plan with couple of dumbbells to your parents or grandparents so they can start enjoying those benefits today.
It will make a huge difference for inactive person to keep doing this simple workout 2-4 times per week on a nonconsecutive days.
What will you need?
Women will need two 5 pound dumbbells. Later, when you get stronger, switch them for two 6 pound dumbbells.
Men will need two 8 pound dumbbells. Later, when you get stronger, switch them for two 10 pound dumbbells.
If starting with that weight is too heavy, keep them, but go get two 3 pound dumbbells for women, and two 5 pound dumbbells for men. Do the same thing when the weight is too light.
2 – 5 circles of:
1. Dumbbell shoulder press – 15 repetitions
Starting position: stand straight holding dumbbells over the shoulders – inhale.
Press dumbbells straight up without locking your elbows – exhale. Lower slowly dumbbells to the starting position.
2. Dumbbell biceps curl – 15 repetitions
Starting position: stand straight holding dumbbells next to your body – inhale.
Curl dumbbells up to 45 degree angle in your elbow – exhale. Return slowly to the starting position and repeat.
3. Seating dumbbell rows
Starting position: sit on the chair holding dumbbells. Lean forward keeping your back straight and head up – inhale.
Lift dumbbells up keeping your back straight – exhale. Return slowly to starting position and repeat.
4. Seating dumbbell triceps curl
Starting position: sit on the chair holding dumbbells over your head, elbows extended – exhale.
Inhaling and bending only your elbows, lower the dumbbells slowly down. Lift dumbbells back up to the starting position and repeat.
5. Standing lateral shoulder raises
Starting position: stand straight holding dumbbells next to your body – inhale.
Lift the dumbbells up to the side (lateral) keeping your elbows extended – exhale. Return slowly to the starting position and repeat.
6. Seating toe raises
Starting position: sit straight on the chair, hands holding dumbbells are on top of your knees – inhale.
Raise your toes up – exhale. Return slowly to the starting position.
7. Seating leg extension
Starting position: sit straight on the chair holding the sides of the chair – inhale.
Extend your knees and lift your feet up – exhale. Slowly return to the starting position.
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October 8th, 2009 Milan
Here is my favorite daily workout system.
Day 1.
Whole body resistance (weight) workout
Day 2.
Cardiovascular (endurance) workout
Shorter and more intensive – 30 – 45 Minutes in heart rate of 70 – 80 % of your maximum heart rate.
Day 3.
Cardiovascular (endurance) workout
Longer and less intensive – 45 – 60 minutes in heart rate of 60 – 70 % of your maximum heart rate.
Day 4.
Whole body resistance (weight) workout
Day 5.
Cardiovascular (endurance) workout
Longer and less intensive – 45 – 60 Minutes in heart rate of 60 – 70 % of your maximum heart rate.
Day 6.
Interval workout
Day 7.
Day off
To find out how to calculate your heart rate zone, click here.
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August 28th, 2009 Milan
- warm up – you can run or jog from your house to warm up for at least 7 – 10 minutes
- stretch – do few simple stretches
- do 2 – 5 circles
- keep breaks between exercises on minimum to keep your heart rate up
1. Triceps dips – Maximum amount of repetitions you can do
Find high curb or bench. If keeping your legs extended is too hard for you, bent them slightly.
While slowly lowering your body as low as you can, keep your back close to the high curb or bench and push back up.
2. Abdominal leg raises hanging on bar – 20 Repetitions
Hang on the bar with your arms and legs extended.
Without swinging, lift your straight legs up almost touching the bar, than lower them slowly back down.
3. Push ups with legs up on high curb – max. amount of repetition you can do
Assume the push up position with your legs up on the high curb or bench.
Perform push up, lowering your body as low as almost touching the floor without letting your but sink and push back up.
4. Chin ups – max. amount of repetitions you can do
Hang on the chin up bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulders apart.
Lift yourself up so the bar is below your chin and slowly lower your body back down to extended arms.
5. Shoulder press push ups – 25 repetitions
Assume the push up position with your legs on high curb or bench. Get closer to the curb lifting your but up and bringing your hands closer to the high curb.
Lower your body slowly down bending your elbows. Almost touch the floor with your nose and push back up.
6. Michael Johnson high jumps – 10 – 20 repetitions
Stand 3-4 feet in the front of the high curb or bench. Bent your knees – squat – hands up.
Jump on the cub.
Get right into a squat on the curb position. And up and jump right back down.
Squat and repeat.
Other workout plans and tips:
Gym workout plans:
Workout plan #1 – simple, effective and safe all-body-machine-resistance workout
Workout plan #2 – more extensive intermediate all-body-workout with combination of machines and free weights
Outdoor workout plans:
Workout plan #3 – Outdoor – beach circuit workout with Marta
Workout plan #4 – Outdoor – beach circuit workout with Milan
Increase your upper body strength, and your metabolism and get leaner with these intense chin ups workout
Interval workout on tennis court- tennis workout
Stretching and warm up:
Stretch before workout, after warm up!
Stretch at work, office
Office workout:
Office workout – beginner # 1
Office workout – beginner # 2
Office workout – intermediate # 1
Office workout – intermediate # 2
Office workout – advanced # 1
Office workout – advanced # 2
Office workout guidelines
Strength training guidelines:
Breath correctly during the resistance exercise
Warm up before workout
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July 17th, 2009 Milan
Just about any skill that a player needs for a match can be learned and developed against wall (backboard). With another conditioning exercises in these workout plan you will develop great endurance and strength while improving your tennis strokes.
If you are a beginner, use an old ball with a slower bounce to take a better control.
What will you need? You need only tennis racket, ball, wall and tennis court – not necessary.
Warm up: Only in first circle – use 60 % of your maximum intensity hitting against wall. Than use maximum intensity in second and other circles.
1. Forehand drill against wall – 3 minutes
Assume the ready position.
Contact point of a tennis racket and ball is in front of the body.
Fallow through with good shoulder rotation and balance.
2. Backhand drill against back board (use aether one handed backhand or two handed backhand) – 3 minutes
Assume a ready position. Step out with foot closes to the ball.
Contact point of a racket and a ball is in the front of the body. Fallow through with good shoulder rotation, extension and balance.
3. Forehand volley drill against wall – 3 minutes
Come closer to the wall. Practice volley against wall without letting the ball fall.
4. Backhand volley drill against wall – 3 minutes
Come closer to the wall. Practice volley against wall without letting the ball fall.
5. Sprint on court; if tennis court is not available, you can set up sprinting lines by yourself anywhere close to the wall you are practicing your strokes.
This is not a warm up anymore. It is a sprint/interval workout.
Start in the front of a end (doubles) sideline.
Sprint toward the middle line.
.Touch the middle line with one of your hands.
Sprint back to the end (doubles) side line.
Touch the end (doubles) side line with one of your hands and as fast as you can sprint back toward the singles side line.
Touch the singles side line with your hand.
Sprint back toward the opposite end (doubles) starting sideline.
Touch the end (doubles) sideline.
Sprint toward opposite end (doubles) sideline.
Touch the end (doubles) sideline.
Sprint back toward end (doubles) sideline.
Sprint across the starting end (doubles) sideline.
If you did this right and tried to do it as fast as you could, you feel tired and you are gasping for breath.
Take a 3 min. break and start with:
7. Push ups – try maximum amount of repetitions
Keep your back straight. Don’t let your but sink.
Go as low as you can without touching the ground.
If you can’t do regular push up, put your knees on the ground and do modified push ups. Also try as many as you can.
Go as low as you can without touching the ground.
8. Abs – legs and arms raises – 25 repetitions
Lie down on on the ground. Legs and arms are extended.
Bend your knees slightly and lift your legs and arms simultaneously up until meeting each other in the middle.
9. Squat jumps- 25 repetitions
Lower your body bending your knees to the right angle and keep your back straight. Hands go up while you’re bending your knees.
Jump up explosively as high as you can swinging your hands down. Repeat squad jump going right away back to the low (knees in right angle) position.
10. Mountain climber – 15 repetitions each side
Assume a push up position.
Bring your right knee as close as you can toward your left elbow while moving your but forward.
If you are doing this exercise right, your bent leg is almost parallel to the floor.
Repeat the opposite side. Left knee touches right elbow.
Do 2 – 4 circles of these interval workout on tennis court, starting again with tennis drills than sprint and strengthening exercises.
Keep 3 minutes break only between sprint and strengthening exercises.
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June 19th, 2009 Milan
Find a bar or tree branch in your neighborhood. Once a week try this challenging advanced chin ups workout. If you can’t do a chin up, do other workouts for now, but every week come back to your chin up bar and try it again. Starting with just one is great. You will see your strength increasing and you will be able to do more, you will get better.
Tips:
- Stretch before you start
- cross you legs and don’t move them while lifting yourself up
- go all the way up – your chin should reach over the bar
- go all the way down to extended arms (elbows)
- every intense chin up workout start with different set of chi ups
You will be doing 10 sets of different kind of chi ups. Break between each of them is 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Write me how many you did on each of them.
1. Wide grip chin ups – maximum amount of repetitions (max.R.)
2. Reverse grip chin ups – max. R.
3. Crossed grip chin ups – right hand reverse grip – max. R.
4. Crossed grip chin ups – left hand reverse grip – max. R.
5. Close grip chin ups – max. R.
6. Close reverse grip chin ups – max. R.
7. Medium wide grip legs up chin ups – max. R.
8. Side moves in chin up position – max. R.
Get up to the chin up position and start moving as far as you can from left side to the right side. You don’t have to keep your legs crossed. Move to the right and left = 1 repetition
9. Backward pull ups – max. R.
10. Flip turn on bar – max. R.
Be careful on these one. This is the most difficult and hardest one and yes it is little dangerous one.
Pull yourself up. Start leaning your head backward and lifting your feet up.
Bring your legs up and flip them over the bar your body fallowing.
This is the ending position. From here go down to hanging position without touching the floor and start over.
My numbers:
1. – 23
2. – 15
3. - 13
4. – 13
5. – 13
6. – 13
7. – 11
8. – 9
10. – 10
11. – 3
Total amount of repetitions: 133 R
Write me your results.
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April 23rd, 2009 Milan
You can develop strength, flexibility and, to some extend, aerobic capacity by exercising at your desk following the routines of these office workout.
Office workout is most useful for those times when your usual exercise schedule is disrupted, when putting in extra hours at work. But even if you have time after work to exercise, you should do office workout to keep your days more active, and use the afternoon for your aerobic exercises or different gym workouts.
When should you do your office workout?
Do your office workout on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or any nonconsecutive days. Alternate workouts: For example if you are beginner do beginner workout # 1. on Monday, than do beginner workout # 2. on Wednesday and again workout #1. on Friday and # 2 on Monday. These gives you more variety.
What workout level should you do?
Always strive to improve your level, if you are beginner and you’ve been doing beginner workouts for a while, try intermediate workout. If you can complete it, fallow with intermediate workouts, if not, go back to beginners level. Once you are able to move to advanced workout, your fitness level will explode.
What should you do, if you get interrupted between your exercises?
This is to be expected. Do what you need to do and resume your workout where you finished. Stretch a little again before you resume workout.
What should you do when your boss tells you that, you can’t exercise in the office?
Tell that control freak, that there are a lot of studies on increased productivity and performance at work and less sick days for people, who exercise regularly and who have regular active work breaks.
What other things should you know?
- Perform all exercises steadily and with control. This will subject your muscles to constant stress during both the lifting and the lowering phase.
- Avoid quick, explosive movements
- No matter what type of exercise you perform, always work both sides of the body equally.
- Do few stretches before you start. When stretching, avoid bouncing. Stretch a muscle only about 10% beyond its normal length, which is the point where you feel tension but not pain.
- If you have time, warm up before you do your office workout, but if you don’t, just stretch. For example you can walk faster around the office or climb few flights of stairs.
- Breathe slowly and steadily as you perform the exercises.
- These office workouts are not intended to replace longer, more intensive aerobic exercise, which you should do on your own during work break or after work. You need to do your vigorous aerobic exercise such as running, walking, cycling, rowing, swimming on your own outside of the office – 3 – 5 times per week 30 – 45 minutes. If your time is severely restricted, you should devote all or most of your workouts outside of the office to aerobic exercise.
What exercise equipment will you need?
1. Swiss ball – any exercise becomes more interesting when you try it on a ball or with a ball instead on the floor, chair or bench.
2. Dumbbells -you can get a couple of handles and load them with the plates. Fixed dumbbells – if you choose these kind of dumbbells, you will need to have at least 2 pairs – heavier and lighter. You should not be able to complete comfortably 15 repetitions, that’s how heavy they should be for different kind of exercises.
3. Band with handles
4. Jump rope
5. Heavy ball (at least 5Lb)
6. Exercise floor mat
And if you are able to do advanced office workout you will need:
7. Chin up bar – you can mount it to the doorway or get one of those mount free chin up bars.
Office workouts:
Office workout – beginner # 1
Office workout – beginner # 2
Office workout – intermediate # 1
Office workout – intermediate # 2
Office workout – advanced # 1
Office workout – advanced # 2
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