Here's a circuit workout I did consisting of 10 exercises. The exercises are arranged in such a way as to promote blood flow back and forth from top to bottom. So that means we're alternating an upper body or core exercise with a lower body exercise. Because we're moving the bllod around, we're training our circulatory system as well as our cardiovascular system, and of course our muscular system. This is based on the original circuit workout known then as PHA (Peripheral Heart Action) as developed by Bob Gajda.    1. Pull Ups 2. Squats 3. Dips 4. Kickouts 5. Body Rows 6. Step Ups 7. Fist Pushups 8.…

These are some of my favourite bodyweight exercises for strength and conditioning for sports. When you're figuring out a workout for sports, you need to first understand that you need to train the entire body. Never mind the Bro Split where you train one or two muscles a day. That's a program designed specifically for bodybuilding and has absolutely no place in a sports program. You use your entire body in any sport. Therefore you must train the entire body and learn to use it as one unit. This means that compound or multi joint exercises are the focus and…

Many people talk about HIIT training nowadays and for good reason. Not only is it super effective for both Cardio and Strength Training, but your body remains in fat burning mode for an extended period of time due to what's commonly referred to as the Afterburn Effect. Here's a HIIT workout for you combining weights with bodyweight only exercises.   The only equipment needed for this workout is dumbbells. I used a kettlebell for one of the exercises but that can be done with dumbbells as well. Do each exercise with as little rest between as possible and a total of two…

We all know that core training is important, but what people may or may not know is the best way to get the job done. There are three ways to train the core.  1. CORE STABILITY 2. CORE FRONTAL CONTRACTION 3. CORE ROTATION   And that's it! Just be sure to do one exercise for each of these and that will give you a complete core workout. In the video I'm doing an exercise called a Suicide Plank which is a combination of a Plank and a Pushup. That takes care of the stability part of it. A crunch would take care of the frontal contraction,…

Here's a full body workout using just your bodyweight. With a lot of restrictions at gyms right now and home gym equipment being hard to find, we all need simple minimal workouts like this! Here are the exercises.   Jumping Jacks Squats Pushups Peeing Dog To Donkey Kicks Spiderman Mountain Climbers Crunches Superman   Do a total of two or three circuits. Each exercise in the circuit is done back to back. After this, do the Qigong finishing exercises and closing For more information about these exercises or for personal training, click here

OK! We're now well into month 3 of the worldwide quarantine. Some things are starting to open up, but let's be honest. We're still in quarantine mode and for many people that means proper nutrition and exercise has taken a backseat! So what should we do about it? First it's important to point out the benefits of sunlight and Vitamin D on your immune system. It's warmer now so get outside and take advantage of it! Not only are there those benefits, but the transmission of Covid outdoors in the warm weather is drastically reduced. If you're unsure about what type of exercise to…

Here's a home shoulder workout you can do and all it takes is a pair of dumbbells. They don't need to be heavy since we're using trisets moving from one exercise to the next back to back. There is a saying that goes "You don't need a heavy weight. You just need to make a light weight feel heavy" and that's exactly what we're doing here.    We start with Dumbbell Circles which was an exercise that legendary trainer Vince Gironda used to teach. From there we move onto Dumbbell Pull-Ins. I can't remember when or where I learned this exercise, but…

This is a killer workout I learned of recently from my Boxing coach. It's called the Walkin' 25s. Here's how it works. It's a circuit with several exercises done back to back and done in a ladder format. With ladders the reps for each exercise increase by 1 with each subsequent circuit. Start with 1 and increase all the way up to 25. After every 5 sets some of the exercises change, but there are some that remain the same all the way through. You can of course change the exercises, but for the example in this post, the exercise that stay the…

We're living in a very chaotic time right now. In December , nobody knew what the Coronavirus was and now it's all over the news in what seems reminiscent of the Spanish Flu of the early 20th Century. We will get through this with positivity, social distancing, and being careful and responsible. In the meantime however, managing stress is super important. And one of the best ways I know of is through Qigong Meditation. I've practiced it for many years now and it's really helped me at particularly stressful points in my life.   There are many ways of practicing this. It…

We are currently dealing with the Coronavirus Pandemic which is leaving a huge number of people stuck indoors at home with nowhere to go. Unfortunately this is just something that we all have to deal with. However that doesn't mean that your fitness has to suffer. In fact, some of my best workouts ever have been right in the comfort of my own home. And of course as an in-home personal trainer, I train people exclusively in their homes. But for those of you who are accustomed to the gym and need to have some at-home workouts, here they are.   One…

Let's face it. Anxiety and stress is a part of life. Not a particularly pleasant part of it, but if you don't learn to cope with it somehow you're going to have a very hard time to say the least. Now I'm sure we've all heard that we need to live a stress free life. However when you hear some bad news, that may prove to be a little difficult. What we need therefore is a way to cope with it and even better than that, eventually not even needing to turn it on and off.   We all know about the valuie of…

Although Doug Hepburn may not be as common a household name like Arnold Schwarzenegger, he certainly deserves to be. Born in Vancouver, BC, Canada in 1926 with a club foot, he may not have seemed at first like a future strength legend. But he did just that. At a height of 5 foot 8 and a half, he weighed in at 300 lbs of power! And he had the numbers to back it up!    For one thing, he was the first man in the world to bench press 400, 450, and 500 lbs! Here are some of his other lifts and…

Of all the various muscle groups on the human body, the core and abdominals are quite possibly the ones which cause the most confusion and has the greatest number of misconceptions as well. Needless to say, it's also one of the most improperly trained muscle groups as well. Let's cut the BS and go over the facts about the core and abdominals (or Abs if you prefer).   First, what are the abdominals and core not? It is NOT some magic muscle that you can train every day for hours without risk of overtraining. Seriously I've heard many people over the years…

Weights are great to use, but it's entirely possible to get a full body workout using nothing but your bodyweight, a few simple pieces of equipment, and a lot of heart! It can be done right in the comfort of your own home, on vacation, or anywhere else.   So for today's workout, I have a combination of supersets and trisets. For those that don't know, supersets is a technique where you take two exercises and perform them back to back. Trisets is the same thing, but it involves three exercises. More than three exercises becomes a circuit, Here's the program   SUPERSET 1 TRX Rows Clap Pushups   TRISET 1 TRX Lateral…

No matter what activity you engage in, footwork is buy far the most important thing. In today's video, I demonstrate some martial arts footwork and body connection drills, but they can be applied to any activity. Remember that without good footwork and strong legs, it is very similar to a car with a pitiful engine. It may look fantastic, but if the engine is useless you won't be going very far or fast.   In the video I go over a few exercises. The first two are Qigong exercises taken from the Bagua system of Chinese martial arts. The third is a…

Tabatas are a great exercise method. The entire process is 4 minutes long. 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. This is done 8 times totaling 4 minutes. You can take either one or two exercises. In this video, we did 2 exercises which were the Wideouts and the Mountain Climbers. A short yet effective workout!  

There are many misconceptions about self defense. What it is and what it is not. But most of it boils down to what your goals are. Similar to fitness goals, if you don't have a clear idea of what you're trying to achieve, there's no way you can possibly know how to get there.   First, let's get something straight. Your goal is not to win a fight! Your goal is to survive and get home in one piece. If it's possible to do it peacefully, do it! Getting into a street altercation never ends well. Even if you win the fight,…

Rep challenges and other types of high reps workouts are very popular ways of training. In addition, competition style workouts where you have a leader board and try to complete your reps in the fastest time are also very popular.   Unfortunately the fact is that these types of high volume, high reps workouts also have a higher risk of injury. Injuries happen most often when you are either excessively fatigued or you're not focusing. Both of these things things are far more likely when you're doing the last reps of an extremely high rep set of an exercise. You're far better…

One of the older workouts from the golden age of bodybuilding was the "I Go, You Go" workout. It's as simple as it sounds, but it certainly isn't easy. It is a more advanced program so I'd recommend that you have at least 6 months or so before trying it out. A good trainer can of course evaluate your fitness level and determine if it's appropriate for you.   You'll need a trainer or a training partner for this one. One person does 10 reps of an exercise. Then the second person does 10 reps. Then the first person goes again and…

After you’ve hit the gym for a complete body workout or you’ve focused on your core in an intense Pilates class, your body is ready to regain its power and energy through different nutrients. One of the best ways to ensure you’re receiving the necessary nutrients your body needs is drinking a smoothie.   However, this doesn’t mean you should go out and buy a smoothie from your local juice bar. Smoothie places can sometimes be the worst for you as they’re typically packed with sugar, calories, and sometimes don’t even have real fruit in them.   Rather than buying a smoothie with questionable…