The Top Five Components of a Sound Fitness Program

I think it's important to put our workouts in perspective every once in a while; it can at times be easy to lose sight of some basic fitness 'rules' that need to be in place to see progress on a consistent basis. For most things in life - whether it's work, your relationships, or your fitness program - most of your results come from a small amount of your efforts. It's the Paretto Principle or the 80/20 rule: 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. So let's apply this to your fitness program; here are (in my opinion) elements that get you the most 'bang for your buck', so to speak:

1. Eating properly

I realize this is a very broad statement :) The thing is, there are so many opinions floating around of what the 'right' way to eat should be. Eating right is at least 60-70% of the equation, though - no matter if your goal is to lose body fat, gain muscle, or both. I posted a while back about some basic diet tips if you'd like some specific guidelines.

2. Incorporating some kind of resistance training into your program

Again, a very general statement - but also very true! You need to include resistance training in your program in some form to significantly change your body composition. I realize training philosophies are going to vary a lot - and I'll be the first to say that there's no 'best' way to train to get results - in fact, I think that any well-designed training program will work for a while (until you adapt, which also means that anything will stop working after a while). I'll direct you to a simple training program I wrote a while back if you need a basic template: The Get In Shape for 2009 Workout


3. Train your heart

I hate using the term 'cardio' almost as much as I hate doing it :) There are so many ways to get your cardio in - it definitely doesn't have to include plugging away on the treadmill or elliptical at the gym. Plus, 'steady-state' cardio - low intensity, long duration - is very quickly falling out of favor. Intervals are the way to go for almost everyone - read my post on interval vs. steady state cardio for a more detailed explanation.

4. Be consistent and be intense

You have to work out regularly to get results! Here's a hypothetical situation: You decide it's time to really get serious about getting in shape. You hit the gym five or six times a week for a few weeks, and you're feeling better - you may or may not be making progress (likely because you're not following each of these five components). After about a month or so, you get bored, you get frustrated, life gets in the way - whatever the reason is, your enthusiasm fades and you end up working out once or twice a week for the following month, only to see the progress you've made over the last month slip away. This is just a hypothetical situation, of course; it's never happened to you, right? :)

Much better to work out four or five times a week for 30 to 45 minutes and be able to stick with the plan on an ongoing basis. In addition to being consistent, you also have to be reasonably intense. You don't have to run around the gym like a manic or start Crossfitting (wait for the video to load - it's well worth it) but you do need to work reasonably hard. Go to the gym with a purpose, get after it, and get out!

5. Pick exercise that you enjoy

Last but not least - you have to like what you're doing for exercise - like we just talked about, being consistent over the long run is one of the most important factors in determining your success. So if you don't like what you're doing - at least a little - you don't have a chance of sticking with it for long. Figure out what floats your boat - maybe it's going to the gym, maybe it's running outside, maybe it's swinging kettlebells - siimply get together a plan for yourself that's well thought out, exercise with a reasonable intensity, and get moving towards your goals!

Those are, in my mind, the top five components of a sound fitness program. What are your thoughts?

Would you like a little more guidance with your fitness program? Need some motivation in reaching your fitness goals? Please visit www.forestvancetraining.com to get involved in personal or group training with Forest Vance, M.S., C.P.T., RKC.

Recommended Nutritional Supplements: Best Fish Oils/ Essential Fatty Acids

So hopefully, you've taken my advice and considered adding a protein supplement into your daily routine (if you missed part one of the series on protein powders and meal replacements, you can catch it here). Next on the list of recommended nutritional supplements is one (unlike supplemental protein) that, in my opinion, almost everyone should be taking - EFA's, or essential fatty acids.

What are EFA's?

EFA's, or essential fatty acids, are fatty acids that cannot be made within the body from other compounds - and therefore are essential in the human diet. There are two families of EFA's: omega 3's and omega 6's.

What do they do?

EFA's support the cardiovascular, immune, reproductive, and nervous systems. They are responsible for a multitude of important functions within the body, including regulating body functions, fighting infection, and growth in children.

Why should I care?

Deficiency in EFA's in the diet, particularly omega 3's, is linked with a fair amount of serious health conditions, including heart attacks, cancer, depression, accelerated aging, and many more. Most Americans are deficient.

Where can I get them?

Avocado, walnuts, Brazil nuts, sesame seeds, soybean oil, olive oil, freshwater and shellfish are some excellent sources of EFA's. There are also some great supplements out there to make it a little more convenient for you to get your daily dose. I personally prefer going with an EFA supplement in liquid form - all you really need is one tablespoon per day of a supplement like The Total EFA - plus you get a lot more 'bang for your buck' than you do with capsules:





HFS The Total EFA With Pure Fish Oil, 8 Fl. Oz., Juicy Orange


Another option would be to go with something like the Labrada EFA Lean Gold, which comes in capsule form - perhaps a bit more expensive as far as actual quantity, but also a little more palatable - and honestly, if you can't stand the taste of the oil, you'll probably never take the supplement!





Labrada EFA Lean Gold, 180 Softgels


Either way, some sort of EFA supplement is something highly recommended to add into your daily routine. Adults need about 1.5 grams of both omega 3's and omega 6's in their diet every day. Do yourself a favor and use the above recommendations to incorporate EFA's into your daily supplement program!

The Keys to Doing Proper Push-Ups

I love push-ups! Seriously, the push-up is truly one of my favorite exercises of all time. It works a ton of major muscle groups, it's super 'functional' (if I dare use that word), you don't need anything but your own body weight to perform it ... the list of benefits could go on and on.

For starters, here is a short list of the muscles a push-up works:

Pecs
Shoulders
Triceps
Biceps
Abs
Quadriceps
Obliques
Glutes

It's a highly functional movement - there are many occasions in everyday life where one has to push themselves up off of the ground. It's also a very 'scaleable' exercise - one can start from the knees or with hands against the wall to make the exercise easier. Once you progress to a standard push-up and need an additional challenge, you can elevate your feet and even progress to the handstand push-up. Other variations include the push-up with rotation, push-up with hands on a medicine ball, push-up with hands or feet on a stability ball - this is just to name a few.

Here is a video showing what standard push-up form should look like:





The keys to doing a proper push-up are the following:

-Body stays in a nice strait line - no sticking the butt in the air or letting the hips sag; also the head and neck stay in line with the rest of the body
-Full range of motion - touch your body to the ground - this is the same if you're doing push-ups from the knees
-Everything stays nice and tight - glutes, abs, quads
-Slow tempo - about two seconds down and two seconds back up

Here is a great article for even more info on how to do a proper push-up from CrossFit.com. Now that you have the basics, start doing those push-ups!

Guest Post on World's Strongest Librarian

Josh Hanagarne of worldsstrongestlibrarian.com was kind enough to let me do a guest post today. It's about things you should be doing before you start training with kettlebells - check it out: The Pre-Kettlebell Training Checklist. And take a look around while you're there!

My RKC Experience

I have debated with myself quite a bit on whether to do this post - my main thoughts have been the following: Should I do the ‘obligatory’ RKC review and share my experience? (I’ve read several and would like to avoid being redundant). However, I quickly realized that the vast majority of you reading this post probably haven’t been to the RKC - and getting multiple perspectives on what it's like is probably a good thing. Plus, I’ve been referring to this event in my posts for a couple of months now and, you’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about - so without further ado:

First, for a basic rundown of the physical challenge: After checking in and forming our teams, we knock out the snatch test – what everyone has been preparing for. I got my 100 reps in four minutes exactly – which was about one minute faster than my previous personal best! Relieving, but still much to come :)

Over the course of the rest of the first day, we did at least 500 swings – probably more like 1000 – in addition to a ton of burpees, and a lot of get-ups to boot. The second day was the clean and press, the squat, and the snatch – another ten hours worth of training. Just to give you an idea of the physical challenge, the closest thing I could probably describe to how I was feeling at that point was how I felt after a 'double day' of football camp. The third day was more about instruction and technique testing, with the 'grad workout' thrown in at the end to make sure you leave thoroughly exhausted.

The depth of the instruction was fantastic – we probably spent four or five hours learning each movement. The thing that probably impressed me the most was the quality of the instruction and the attention to detail. To be honest, no other 'nationally accredited' certification I have holds a candle to this one. Really, the class was more about human movement and how to train the body for greater efficiency and strength – the kettlebell just happens to be one of the best tools for the job.

Another really interesting thing is that my form and poundages kept improving over the weekend, even though I was 'smoked'. I think that shows how much your mechanics improve in such a short time in that kind of environment.

There are a lot of things that go into making this cert what it is. It’s for a special breed of person, and rightfully so. It’s meant to be that way. Not everyone has the dedication to train to get into proper physical shape, the mental and physical toughness to withstand the three days of work, or the time and money to do it – let’s face it, it’s not cheap. But it's worth every training hour I took to get in shape for it, the time I took off of work to fly halfway across the country, and every penny that I spent. Highly recommended and highly valuable. I made some great new contacts, learned a lot, and had a blast along the way! I'd love to hear your thoughts. Also, if you'd like to sign up for the certification yourself, purchase a set of kettlebells, order books or dvd's, or just find out more about any of them, please click the link below:

The Fastest Ways to Burn Calories

Are you feeling guilty about eating that burger last night? Wondering exactly how long you're going to have to spend on the 'orbitron' to burn it off (that's what one of my old clients called the eliptical ... you know who you are). Whatever the case, I thought you all might find interesting a piece of an article I submitted to EzineArticles.com a few days ago:

"Here's an example of the average calorie burn of a few common activities one might choose for exercise - this is based on a individual that weighs 155 pounds:

Aerobics, general: 211
Bicycling, stationary, moderate effort: 247
Calisthenics (pushups, sit-ups), vigorous effort: 282
Running, 6 mph (10 min mile): 352
Weight lifting or body building, vigorous effort: 211 ... "

Not bad ... but the point was that it's a lot easier to consume too many calories than it is to burn them off ... I'll bet many of you consume two to three thousand calories when you go out to eat. Much better - and easier - to just have a little self restraint and save yourself and extra hour on the treadmill trying to burn off that Double Double from In'n'Out ... well, actually, the burger might be worth it every once in a while. Just a little food for thought (pun intended). Let me know what you think - also, check out the article in it's entirety at EzineArticles.com.

Best Protein Powders, Meal Replacement Drinks

Wondering if you should be taking a protein powder or meal replacement to help you reach your fitness goals? Short answer: most of you probably should be! I'll be doing a series of supplement reviews on forestvancetraining.com, which I kicked off yesterday with a review of my favorite protein powder and meal replacement drink. For a more detailed review and specific recommendations, please click here to go directly to the article.

Ways to Workout at Home - Body Weight Circuit #1

Need some new ideas on ways to workout at home? New YouTube video from yours truly - take a look for a quick circuit of body weight exercises you can do whenever, wherever - no equipment needed!



A couple of notes:

• Sit the hips back behind you on the squats! Weight through the heels, knees tracking over the toes, keep the chest nice and tall.
• Keep the hips high and body in a straight line on the push-ups. If you can't do the full push-up, do a knee push-up and come up to the toes for the rotation.
• Suck in the abs and tuck the hips under during the planks.

Enjoy! And if you like the video, don't forget to share it :)

New 15 minute Upper Body Bodyweight Workout

Here's a killer 15 minute upper body blast if you want a great upper body workout and are pressed for time -

5 rounds of:

10 pull-ups
10 push-ups
10 inverted rows
10 dips

As fast as possible

Some exercises to substitute if you can't perform the exercises as listed:

-Sub 'jumping' pull-ups for regular pull-ups
-Knee push-ups for standard push-ups
-Bench dips for bar dips

The goal is to get through the workout with as little rest as possible - good form on all of the exercises should of course be top priority. Enjoy!

The Turkish Get -Up

You love it or you hate it - the Turkish Get-Up. Personally, I hate doing this exercise - but I love the results I get from it! It's fantastic for building shoulder and core stability, hip mobility, flexibility, not to mention that it works almost every major muscle group in your entire body. Here's a great video from www.artofstrength.com that beautifully breaks it down:



The five different 'steps' that this video goes through are really helpful for learning the movement efficiently. Give the Turkish Get-Up a try today and see the benefits for yourself!

Update: if you'd like to see a couple of YouTube videos I've recently filmed on the Turkish Get Up, please check these out:

1. How To Do A Turkish Get Up

2. Kettlebell Turkish Get Up Progression: The 'Half Get Up'

Enjoy!