I find these to be excellent for shoulder and arm exercises. Check out the video to see three of my favourite moves to do with them. There are different types of chest expanders available. Some have metal springs and some are rubber. I find the rubber ones to be much better both for safety and also for feel. I bought mine from Lifeline USA. However any type will do. As with all resistance band exercises, you must maintain tension at all times and not let it go slack. This will allow you to get the most benefit from it. Anyway here's…

Wrist and forearm training is often neglected. They may not be a "show" muscle, but they're crucial for overall strength and fitness. You are, after all, only as strong as your weakest link. Check out this video to learn more.   

The ability to remain calm in a real situation can be very difficult indeed. It almost seems like a contradiction. It sounds very strange to relax while you're trying to hit someone and avoid being hit, but you must do this. One of the keys to doing this is learning to control your breath. This is done through Qigong breathing exercises. If you practice these exercises regularly, it will have tremendous benefit to your overall health and the ability to remain calm.   RELAXATION, AWARENESS, INTENT are the keys to combat. You must stay relaxed inn order to be properly aware and you…

Workout games are one of my favourite ways to train in groups. When I used to teach bootcamps and group fitness more, I would often include games either at the beginning, at the end, or both. And although I haven't done group classes for a while due to a certain annoying pandemic, I fully intend to do them again when it's safe to do so. Of course it doesn't have to be a large group. Your family can do it right in your house and it doesn't require equipment either. Even if it's one other person many games can still be…

Here's a quick 4 exercise circuit workout for you. Some of the exercises are tough, but there are always alternatives if you need them. Anyway here are the exercises.    Knuckle Dips Clapping Pushups Jump Squats Power Jacks   There are two upper body exercises and two ower body exercises. This is great for general fitness and particularly for martial arts. Anyway take a look and give it a try.  

The heavy bag is one of the most recognizable pieces of equipment in Boxing and other martial arts. Indeed it's one of the first things that come to mind when you think of the martial arts. It can come in many shapes, sizes, and types. However there are two major categories. One is the hanging type which can hang from a ceiling hook or from a heavy bag stand and the other is freestanding with a water or sand filled base. Top me the best is the hanging type from a ceiling hook. You can of course get a great workout no…

The battle ropes are a very versatile piece of equipment. They're great for strength, endurance, body connection and coordination, and even for training sport specific skills. On top of that it provides am amazing cardio workout and can really help melt those pounds off. In this video, I cover my favourite exercises on the ropes.    One thing to keep in mind always is that you must use the body as one unit. In the Chinese internal arts, we like to say "One part moves, All parts move". With the ropes it's very difficult to not do this. For if you don't then…

Here's a 9 Exercise Bodyweight Circuit for you. No equipment is required. Here are the exercises.   1. Punisher Squats 2. Pushups with Alternating Widths 3. Frog Jumps 4. Pike Pushups 5. Side Lunges 6. Knuckle Pushups 7. Bear Crawl 8. Ape Crawl 9. Crab Crawl   These are done back to back in a circuit. 2 to 4 total circuits are done. It's a tough one, but effective! Check out the video!  

This is an everything workout using the Lebert Equalizers, Dumbbells, and Battle Ropes. Each piece of equipment is done for 3 circuits before moving onto the next piece of equipment. A very solid and effective workout!   For more information about In-home or online personal training, click here  

Jumping on the trampoline is one of my favourite types of exercises. It's fun, it's simple, and it has tremendous health benefits. One major benefit is it helps you feel youthful. Look at kids running, jumping, and playing. They're so light on their feet and moving easily. Unfortunately it doesn't take long before you start to stiffen up and most adults have completely lost that supple feeling. It doesn't have to be that way however. Trampoline jumping is one of the best ways to get that feeling back. Another benefit is that it promotes lymphatic fluid flow. Jumping up and…

This has been a challenging time to say the least. With so many things closed and put on hold, how can you stay motivated to workout and live the fitness lifestyle? The easiest thing is to make small changes. Don't tell yourself that you'll never have a cheat day again. That won't work. All you'll end up doing is driving yourself insane only to end up going nuts one day and finishing off a large pizza and a container of ice cream. I've seen it happen! So what are some of the ways we can do this? Here are three…

I've spoken in the past about the importance of the Sil Lim Tao form for Wing Chun and other martial arts. Now it's time to break it down move by move, section by section to get a better understanding of it. To start, there are three sections of the form. The first section is done to teach proper positioning and energy, particularly the forward elbow energy so necessary for Wing Chun skill. The second section is to teach you to recover from a bad position. And the third section is to teach energy release and power. All are needed for…

During these times, it's important to be able to workout anywhere. Gyms are closed or open with restrictions. But we still need to stay in shape. How can this be done and how can we keep the workouts fun and interesting? There's more to it than just saying to do 100 squats, 100 pushups, 100 sit ups a day. Sure that may work for a bit and you may even get some decent results from that. But eventually you'll get pretty bored and stale on that.    A big part of keeping things fresh and to get better results is to change the…

Sometimes people have difficulty understanding step through or shifting footwork when it comes to the hands. But if you put a knife in your hands it all makes more sense. There's a real flow to it that's hard to get with just the bare hands, but it can be transferred over with weapons.    You may have heard people say that the weapon is an extension of your hand. That's exactly true. Any of the techniques you can do with the knives or other weapons can be done with the hands. Not only that, but the personality of the weapons would always…

Forms practice is a very large part of the traditional martial arts. They serve many purposes. One is that in the old days it served as a glossary of the techniques of a martial art. The majority of the population was illiterate at that time and forms were a way to physically pass down the techniques and spirit of a martial art. Another is that it helps to ingrain the techniques into your subconscious improving muscle memory. And a third is that they are good exercise and in fact great for cardio as well as coordinating the body.   However for our…

Often when people stretch, they do it at the beginning of a training session. It's just very common to do it this way, but unfortunately it's incorrect. Static stretching is done to relax muscles and essentially put them to sleep. Therefore it should be done at the end of a training session, not at the beginning. To start a workout, it's best to use dynamic movement such as running in place, jumping jacks, perhaps some gentle rotational exercises, etc. The idea is to get the body moving and raise your core temperature. If you're doing sport specific training, then you…

This is a bodyweight workout that can be done anywhere with just a bit of floor space. There are four major categories of exercises that all need to be trained for a balanced workout. They are  1. Squats 2. Upper Body Push 3. Upper Body Pull 4. Core Work   At least one exercise from  each category should be done. In this case I've done three from each. Here's a full list of the exercises.  1. Squats 2. Beat Your Boots Squats 3. Wideouts / Pop Squats 4. Pushups 5. Hindu Pushups 6. Knuckle Pushups 7. Swimming 8. Renegade Rows 9. Body Rows (Lebert Equalizers) 10. Spiderman Climb 11. Frog Crunch 12. Side Plank Raise   Click below to see the workout. https://youtu.be/Wd1OHc7yWrU And send…

In our society, many people have been trained to feel helpless. As if they have no control over things. If something is wrong with your health, take a drug. If you suffer from Depression take a drug. If your back hurts there's nothing you can do about. You're old and that's just the way it is. Or you could take a drug for it. If you're diagnosed with Diabetes take a drug. If you have High Blood Pressure, take a drug. Do any of these remedies involve taking control of your life in a a healthy way. These are all legitimate…

One of the less glamourous, but certainly essential elements of fitness, is body alignment. My first gym I trained at was Mack's Gym in Toronto which was run by Mack Miya. He was one tough SOB and was a very old school trainer. His philosophy was that you had no business handling any weight unless your alignment was spot on. So in order to teach me, he had me doing squats with a broomstick. This seemed very unusual to me at the time and I didn't understand it, but as the years went by I truly appreciated it since I've…

Never before have we had so much information about diet and exercise and never before have we had so much bullshit at the same time! Seriously when I think back over the past 30 plus years that I've been doing this stuff, I've seen the entire fitness industry change from being thought of as a weird activity for health nuts to the point where everybody, even kids, are discussing things like the Keto diet, Paleo diet, etc. You know the old expression "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing"? Well it's certainly true when it comes to nutrition.    Honestly it was…