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Fitness Motivation: The Secrets of a Champion
One of the most deceiving things going on in the gyms today is belief that people can work off what they eat and drink. People show up day after day, working very hard in public to show the world they can be a champion in the gym. However, it’s what they do in private that is losing their fight with fat.
Muhammad Ali recognized the importance of what you do “far from witnesses”, and realized he could never win the fight in the ring if he didn’t win the fight with himself first. He had to fight laziness and mediocrity. He had to fight fear and doubt. He had to convince himself that he could be the champion he desired.
“I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.”Muhammad Ali
In order to be the future champ, he had to be the champ in his workouts before he even faced his opponent. He had to go a few more reps and a few more steps past what his body wanted. He had to care for his body, which probably meant anything from a painful ice bath to getting the rest his body needed even when we didn’t want to take it.
“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.“ Muhammad Ali
He also recognized that it wasn’t always the big things in life that could bring a man down, it often was the small things that could trip a man up. The same goes with fitness. Your success can easily be tripped up by a few extra calories. The difference between getting thinner and seeing abs is the difference between stopping when you feel better, and continuing on past better to be your best. It is rarely the one hour workout (a mountain) that brings someone to quit, it’s the daily struggle to maintain a healthy diet, to keep showing up to the gym even when the results seem SO slow, that wears a person down.
“My only fault is that I don’t realize how great I really am.” Muhammad Ali
This quote may seem pompous, but it is a very true statement for most people. Most of our boot campers, and most of our members, do not realize how truly great they are. They often don’t believe in themselves as much as we believe in them. How can we believe in them? Because we have seen people JUST like them, who have the same set of excuses, fears, struggles and weaknesses, succeed. Once you realize how great you really are, you can do anything.
What I ask you today is this: Are you winning your fight far from witnesses, behind the lines, in your kitchen, in the gym and out there on the road? Or is you best effort what you want people see in the gym?
“There are no pleasures in a fight but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win.” Muhammad Ali
10-MIN WORKOUT: Shoulders & Quads
In BCx Boot Camp, we often refer to our workouts as “Missions”. Well, today’s mission is to put your cardio to the test, as well as work your shoulders, quads, glutes and core. Do as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 10 minutes.
“OPERATION BAG NASTY”
Bag Nasty: (U.S.) The military name given to the fast food options in chow halls, i.e.; hot dogs and hamburgers. Also common reference for MRE’s. In the Air Force, commonly a reference to pre-packed Flight Lunches.
Equipment:
Thrusters: barbell, dumbbells, sandbag, kettlebells or even 2 gallons of water.
Get Ups & Snatches: dumbbells, kettlebells or 1 gallon of water.
(Click on the link for video instruction)
10 Thrusters
10 Turkish Get Ups (5 left, 5 right)
10 Thrusters
10 Snatches (5 left, 5 right)
**10-MINUTE AMRAP**
Matching workout graphic:
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FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Is Your Workout Working?
People are always searching for the next best workout. Fitness fanatics spend a lot of time and energy asking a million questions, surfing the net, reading magazines and watching what other people are doing in the gym. The whole time, their existing workout may be perfectly fine – they just need to make a few adjustments to take their old workout from just OK to totally INSANE! What is this magic potion I speak of?
It’s called intensity. I can’t tell you HOW MANY TIMES I see people just working out, going through the motions with little to no intensity at all. Nine times out of ten, their workout is perfectly fine, it’s the lack of intensity that’s killing their training. So how do you increase intensity?
I’ve got Answers (Pun intended!)
I recently joined Answers.com, the #1 question and answer website, to answer people’s fitness questions just like this one. Since so many people have asked me what I’d add, or do different, if I were to train them, I thought this would be one of the first subjects I’d tackle.
Realize, even if the only exercises you knew were a few simple exercises like push ups, pull ups, jumping jacks and squats, those exercises can be totally insanely amazing IF you add the right components to increase intensity.
Sadly, people often think they have to have certain tools, certain fancy moves, or a certain trainer to get results in order to experience a workout that is made for the pros. Not so!
There are 5 simple training methods that can seriously ramp up your intensity – and your results. If you like what you see here, then CLICK HERE to read the whole article to learn more and get my Editor’s Tip!
Have a question you’d like Answered? Comment below and I’ll get to work on it!
Easy Recipe for the Perfect Workout
When Steve really likes a workout, he calls it “YUMMY”. Well I have a sweat sandwich that you are going to LOVE! It may not sound very tasty, but the results sure are yummy – and who doesn’t like a recipe with only 5 ingredients? I do! I’m all about simple – and that goes for my workouts too.
Workouts don’t have to be complicated to be challenging. Sometimes the most effective workouts are super simple, but super purposeful and well-planned. Unfortunately though, it’s not enough to just know a few good exercises, you should know how to make the most out of those exercises by pairing them up with complimentary exercises, as well as putting them in the right order to help you reach your goals.
While there are MANY different ways to put a workout together, here is one of my own workout formulas you can use to create your own challenging and effective workouts using what you know with what you have. All you need is 5 exercises – 3 different strength exercises and 2 conditioning (boot campy) exercises.
The formula starts with the most difficult task and ends with the lightest (low weight/high rep) exercise, with a nice dose of cardio and conditioning sandwiched in the middle for more calories burned and more overall intensity. Then it repeats 5 times. Give it a shot!
Recipe for Your Own Sweat Sandwich
#1. Strength: Heavy Weighted Multi-Joint Exercise
The first exercise in my circuit would be a heavy, to both tax my target muscle group and get my heart rate up, like thrusters, overheat squats, push press, pull ups and push ups.
#2. Strength & Cardio: Conditioning Exercise Using Moderate Resistance or Bodyweight
The next exercise could be more explosive and powerful, using moderate weight or bodyweight, but focuses on really getting the heart rate up like a hip drive or box jumps.
#3. Toning Exercise: Moderate Resistance or Body Weight to Target Muscle Group
Once my heart is pounding, I can use a toning exercise to let my heart rate come down a little, while focusing on my target muscle group, like lunges, leg extensions, shoulder presses, bicep curls, bent over rows, tricep extensions, flies, one-arm chest press, etc.
4. Conditioning: Cardio and/or Conditioning Exercise to Increase Heart Rate
Now that I’ve had a “rest”, it’s time to get my heart rate back up with a complimentary cardiovascular exercise that doesn’t allow my target muscles to rest. For instance, I may do mountain climbers if I’m doing arms, wall-ups if I’m doing shoulders, or burpees if I’m doing legs, so those muscles don’t have time to fully recover.
5. Sculpting/Targeting: Using Light Resistance to Target the Key Muscles
Lastly, I finish the muscle circuit off with a burn using a bodylastics band, light weights or my own bodyweight, like shoulder raises with a band, wall sits, plank, band flies, band curls, band kickbacks, curties, stomps, etc.
After the 5 exercises are complete, I take a 30 second rest and start all over again until I’ve completed 5 rounds, depending on my weight and other exercises/activity for the day. Want more? Reduce it to 3 rounds and add another totally new 3-round circuit for more variety. You can do each exercise for 15-20 reps each for the fastest time, or you can do each exercise for 30-45 seconds at each station.
2 Sample Workouts:
Shoulder Focus
- Thrusters (a squat and a heavy shoulder press)
- Hip Drive (cardio and strength)
- One-Arm Kettlebell Presses (toning upper body using moderate weight)
- Mountain climbers (conditioning, while still tiring out the arms)
- Lateral raises (targeting/sculpting using high reps and low resistance)
Leg Focus
- Overhead Squats (strength & multi-joint)
- Box Jumps (cardio and power)
- Overhead (toning upper body) Walking Lunges (toning lower body)
- Burpees (conditioning)
- Wall Sits or Curtsies (targeting/sculpting)
If you do it right, you’ll end up flat on the floor, totally wiped out like ME! 
The Joker Workout: It’s All in the Cards
Grab a deck of cards and get ready for an awesome workout! Whether it’s just you and a workout buddy or a class – playing with a deck of cards is a great way to work up a sweat.
Workout Description: Shuffle the deck and split the deck in half. If you are working out with a group, split the group in 2 teams, Team A & Team B (or just split the cards between workout partners, Partner A & Partner B). A draws first and completes the appropriate exercise based on the card type. While A rests, B draws a card. Continue until you run out of cards.
Turn it into a game. Each Team/Partner gets their equal set of cards and begins drawing cards at the same time. The person to run out of cards first, wins. Loser gets 25 penalty burpees.
Reps:
- Number cards represent reps, 1 (Ace) -10 repetitions
- Face Cards Represent 15 repetitions
- Joker Card represents REST for the team pulling the card, & 15 Burpees for the OPPOSING Team
Exercises (click on link to view exercise)
- Diamonds: Tuck Jumps
- Hearts: Mountain Climbers
- Clubs: Sit Ups
- Spades: Burpees
Here are a few pics of our class doing this workout…
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Fast-Slow-Stop Bodyweight Workout
You don’t need a gym to get a quick workout in – and this is a great one you could do in a hotel room, living room, outside or where ever you squeeze a quick sweat in. OR, you can pop this little routine into your normal gym routine to switch things up a bit.
Do the following exercises 3 different ways each: FAST, SLOW, STOP!
- FAST: 25 repetitions as fast as you can
- SLOW: 15 repetitions slow (half-time, 3-5 seconds each rep)
- STOP: Hold for 45 seconds (preferably in the low or middlle position)
- Air Squats
- Push-up
- Dips (girls) or Triceps Dip (boys)
- Mountain Climber
Repeat 3-5 Times
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Fitness Motivation: The Hardest Step is the 1st Step
In my opinion, the actual run (or workout) is not the hardest part. It’s getting there. It’s putting your workout clothes on, and stepping away from the computer, kids, and responsibilities to START your workout.
Once I’m “there” (whether on the road or in the gym), I love it – but it’s like there is an invisible forcefield at the front door that makes it so challenging to step through that door and transform into the fit girl I love to be.
May the Force Be With You
For some people, there is an evil forcefield that seems to block them from going to the gym. It comes in the form of work, kids, laziness, fear, embarrassment, procrastination, guilt and many other forms.
BUT, once you have made a commitment to show up, the forcefield is broken. The same way Snow White could be woken from the curse with the most simple task, with true love’s kiss, YOU can break the curse by an equally simple task. You just have to show up.
Don’t Think So Much
I think we overcomplicate things. We spend too much time worrying about what we are going to do when we get there, what we are going to wear, what our kids are going to think when we stick them in day care, what we have to cook for dinner, how we will squeeze it all in, what we are going to look like when we are floundering around the gym as a newbie, or how we are going to feel – embarrassed, fat, weak or out of shape.
Some people even think they need to lose weight BEFORE they go to the gym! That’s like trying to get well before going to the doctor. All these silly thoughts do is allow that forcefield to go up.
Just Show Up
It’s time to tear down the walls of intimidation, fear, laziness, and excuses – and just focus on one thing: Show Up. Day after day, just keep showing up. Once your feet hit the pavement, it’s golden. Once your body walks through the gym doors, you are set. The rest is easy! Most people would agree that they enjoy the feeling they get when they workout, they just have a hard time with the “starting” part.
Commit.
Start.
Do.
Succeed!
The shoes in this pictures are the Reebok DMX Sky. They are really cool shoes that use air as cushion. I’ve been having ankle issues and I wore these yesterday and had the first day in several days with no pain. So, if you need extra support and like extra cushion, I’d definitely give these shoes a try. Very cool kicks.
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
You CAN If You WILL
I woke up today to stormy weather. Thunder and lightening woke me up. Steve left the house to go to the gym this morning around 4:45am to train his first client, Corinne. When he arrived, there was no power. It was storming like a hurricane and completely pitch black for blocks. Did that stop them? Nope! Steve pulled out a flashlight and they trained in the dark.
So next time you think you have an excuse to skip your workout, remember you can do whatever you want if you want it bad enough. 9 times out of ten, it’s not about whether you can, it’s just whether you will.
How much time have you wasted contemplating something you know you should do?
How much time do we waste creating excuses to get out of what we need to do?
How many times have we spent more time thinking about doing something than actually doing the something?
We sure wast a LOT of time!
Listen, if you WANT to be fit, quit wanting and start working on being fit. Whether you can or not rarely is even a question. It’s just a matter of whether you WILL. As long as you make your workouts optional, you are allowing your success to be optional. Quit wasting precious time. Just show up!
BEST FIT GEAR: Bonnie’s Top 5 New Reebok Releases
As most of you know, I have the privilege of trying some of the newest trends from Reebok. One thing you might not know is I’m not required to tell you how much I love their products, even if I don’t. I just have to test them out, be honest and share what I like. The problem is, I love almost everything they send me! Seriously! So, with that said, I thought I’d share my top picks for the first quarter.
The following products are not just products I’ve received, but new products I admire and plan to get – AND my Product of the Year (so far!).
Bonnie’s Top 5 Reebok Picks
1. PWR Legging – If you don’t want to talk to anyone at the gym, then you may not want to buy these leggings. I got so many compliments on these workout pants the first day I wore them! Everyone was asking me where I got them. Between the cool print and the single black-cuff bottom, this pair of leggings is a statement for sure – and it says COOL!
2. Reebok CrossFit Spotted Sock: Stripes are overrated, right?! But, something you DON’T see a lot of is SPOTS! They have spotted socks in red & white and green & purple. They also have different patterns and styles including compression socks and just high socks. They even have them in solid HOT PINK for pink-lovers like ME! Men, if you want something a little less (well, girlie), check these red, yellow and black bad boys out: Reebok CrossFit Front Stripe Sock
3. ZigCarbon Running Shoe. Ok, I have not tried these yet, but Steve got his last week and LOVES them – and they are on my wish list for sure!! The Zigcarbon is super light (under 7.5 ounces) and has a full-length unique military grade carbon fiber plate for structured support in the midfoot, and forefoot and heel foam pods for excellent cushioning and shock absorption. Although Steve loved the regular zigs, he felt he needed a little more support – and he said this shoe did the trick for sure. This shoe is designed to take a beating with more durability and support.
4. Strength is Beautiful Tank. This statement alone is awesome – but then the top has a cool cut too. I love the color, the cut, and the message! But, this tank is not just cool, it’s practical. The idea behind their CrossFit line is not to just offer CrossFitters cool clothes. It was to learn from some of the toughest athletes who really put their body to the test, and create what they needed in workout gear. As a result, they learned tops need to be more fitted and longer so they don’t rise up while doing handstand push-ups or burpees. They realized they needed to develop pants that you can squat, jump and run in that won’t slide down your bottom exposing your butt crack or busting a seam. They use technology that fitness enthusiasts appreciate. This is not your ordinary generic workout clothes to walk in, this line is designed to work for you, not against you. So, all in all, you don’t have to be a CrossFitter to appreciate this gear – you’ll love it no matter how you train.
5. Strength Track Jacket - So far, this is my favorite jacket I’ve gotten from Reebok. Partly because I love the single-sided inspirational ghost pattern, but mostly because it just looks SO sharp on! It comes in black, white & coral (I have it in white). As a fitness professional, I’m always looking for sharp fitness apparel that I can wear and still look professional. I literally can finish a workout, slide this bad boy on and I feel dressed for success in seconds. Love it!
My Product of the Year (so far) is…
(drum roll please…..)
The Reebok DMX Sky. DMX Sky outsole contains three independent moving channels that transfer cushioned air where you need it, when you need it – and a Carbon rubber outsole for traction, grip and durability.
First, I must tell you how I tried these puppies out. I actually switched shoes with my mom (pictured above on the right) and wore one of her new Reebok shoes AND I wore one of the DMX Sky shoes on part of my run to see if I could feel a difference. The answer was a big fat YES, BIG difference! Definitely LOADS of cushion for all you cushion lovers (which I need since I hurt my ankle). I could tell you how they work, but I think Reebok experts explain it the best. Check it out!
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Blast the Backside: Glute & Ham Workout
Another Great Glute & Ham Workout this week! Here’s what I did. REMEMBER, I’m hitting glutes twice a week. My other Leg day is quads and glutes.
4 Sets of 18-20 Each:
- Straight Leg Deadlifts
- Leg Curls (3 sets reg. 2 sets negative)*
- Seat Leg Curls
- Stomps (both heels hit the ground)*
- Curtsies*
Finish this workout with doing the stairs, step mill, treadmill on a steep incline or the elliptical on a high resistance setting.
TIPS*
LEG CURLS: Change things up and do single leg curls to hit your legs a little differently. Or, boost your training by doing a few sets of negatives using too heavy of weight to do alone. Have your partner help you push the weight to the fully contracted position. Then you control the weight back down on your own for a great negative exercise.
STOMPS: I always do one exercise (like lunges or stomps) to fire up the quads too, so expect them to be blazing hot! The key to stomps is making sure the heel of the moving foot comes all the way down and touches the ground – not just the toe touching. Then sit on it – meaning, your bottom should drop down low with each step in.
CURTSIES: Be sure to not put ANY weight on the back foot. Use it only for balance. Also, with each bend, you should come ALL the way back up to a stand. It’s the upward motion that works the glutes. So, all the way down, and all the way up. Add a dumbbell in the dropped hand for more resistance.
Have a great workout!!
FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
