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Friday, October 22, 2010

Doug catches a beat down from ... Chelsea

I hate to admit defeat. I mean I really HATE it. So it comes as no small feat that I'm admitting being beaten ... by Chelsea.

Check out the video to see what I mean ...

Doug Was Fat?!?!

Monday, October 18, 2010

10 Minute Drill

The 10 minute drill is an intense workout that will keep you working for an entire 10 minutes, as opposed to all the resting done in a typical workout.

Click here to read the full article...

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Things people say that keep them fat ...

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that most seekers of weight loss and fitness who fail to get a result do so because they sabotage themselves.  There are about a thousand ways we can do it, but they mostly involve the conversations we have in our heads

Monday, October 11, 2010

Levels workout

Here's an interesting workout I came up with a couple of months ago. It starts out relatively easy, but gets harder with each level (hence the name "Levels").

Click to check it out.

Try this out and let me know how you did. Post your comments below.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Doug becomes a financial planner ???

So, lately I've been throwing down a lot of new concepts that are -- let's just say "not mainstream."  I don't want to leave anyone with the impression that I am bucking the system or going rogue, so I wrote this blog post to give you an idea of how these newer concepts fit into my philosophy.

Let’s momentarily leave the world of weight loss, a subject where I am considered by many to be an expert.  Instead, let’s discuss a subject that I’m nowhere near qualified to talk about – Money!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Tabata Complex

Here's a great workout for you.  It's quick (literally 16 minutes long -- if you can make it to the end!), it's intense, it should burn a lot of calories (both during and after the workout) and it should kick your fat-burning hormones into high gear.  I call it the Tabata Complex.  Let me start by explaining each part, then I'll explain how I combined them. 

Complexes are a form of continuous resistance exercise.  I like to call them "hybrid" workouts or "resistance cardio" because they seem to encompass both modalities and fit nicely into neither one!  The concept of a true complex is to pick a few (4 to 8) exercises that you can do with the same amount of weight.  Typically these will be done with a bar, but dumbbells, bands, kettlebells, and body weight works also.  Next, pick a target.  Choose a number of repetitions or a set amount of time for each exercise.  Start your complex and move from one exercise to the next without taking a break or even setting down the weight.  When you've finished all of your exercises, then you can take a break.  Repeat as many times as your body will allow.

The Tabata Protocol was developed by Japanese researcher Isumi Tabata.  He experimented with speed skaters a number of years ago and concluded that they had all sorts of improvements (strength, speed, endurance, etc) by doing these specialized intervals.  In the protocol, you are supposed to pick an exercise and do it at maximal intensity for 20 seconds.  You then rest for 10 seconds and repeat 7 more times for a total of 8 rounds.  Here's the clincher: the workout only lasts 4 minutes.  One group known as Crossfit has taken the Tabata Protocol to even more of an extreme by creating other workouts called "Tabata This," "Tabata That," and "Tabata Something Else."  In these variations, you do multiple Tabata drills, each with its own exercise, with a minute of rest in between.  You can find a convenient Tabata timer at www.beach-fitness.com/tabata

Finally, my spin on the two workout modes is to combine them into one workout.  If we apply the complex concept to the Tabata Protocol, we end up with 4 exercises, each done for 20 seconds with a 10 second rest before going on to the next movement.  Twice through the series is equivalent to one full Tabata.  The full version of the Tabata Complex would be 8 rounds of each exercises (32 total rounds, 4 full Tabatas, and 15:50 total time -- 16 if you count the last rest period).

I leave you to your own devices to choose your own exercises, but don't wimp out and choose easy stuff.  Pack on the most difficult moves you can stand.  Try to use different parts of the body (i.e. choose a leg exercise, a pushing exercise, a pulling exercise, and a core exercise or a full body exercise).  The more joints you can move at once, and the greater distance you can move a weight, the better!

Post to the comments the movements you used and your experience with this workout.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Hybrid Muscle????

Follow me on flashback to my undergraduate years, won’t you?  

In school, we used to talk incessantly about different muscle fiber types.  Muscle fibers are muscle cells, known as fibers because of their long, string-like appearance.  

There are three basic types (some scientists claim more, but for our discussion, three will suffice).  

Friday, October 1, 2010

An extreme vision of success ...

This guy is pretty extreme, but he sure makes a lot of sense, doesn't he? Post your comments below and tell me what you think.