Jillian Michael's Shred-It with Weights

I have no problem recommending other personal trainer's work.
Jillian does a great job with her radio show, biggest loser thing on tv and shooting straight. Sure she's sold out a little with pimpin some products but overall Jillian is legit. Unlike her counterpart on that tv show, what's his name, Bob?
Anyway, Here's a good read from Jillian that in girl terms explains why women should be doing weights to get sexy.

Side Plank Combo

Can you hold a plank from every basic angle? Are you bored holding forever? What's the point if you can hold a plank for 2 minutes or more? Move on you've graduated to challenging yourself with more difficult variations.




First off, a plank is simply holding your body straight as a board. Think when you are at the top of a push-up movement and arms are straight. That's a plank. Most common mistake is letting the mid-section droop (which is a sign of weak core or abs, back and hips) or over compensating and rounding the back or piking the body up. Most common measurement of progress is how long you can hold the position.

Ok, so here's what's going on this video.

Shaun is holding a side plank on one elbow with one foot on a bosu ball, while holding his other leg up in the air to create more instability. With his other arm I have him doing a row with a light jumpstretch band.

Effect: With the progressive resistance from the band and the fast explosive pull, he's training to be powerfully fast as swimmers need. And being put into a position of instability, many various muscle groups are firing to maintain balance and control. Something to think about as when you are in the water there is nothing to brace you besides the water.

Remember this is only one aspect of a complete training program, don't just do these types of exercises. Be sure to incorporate strength, muscle stamina, cardio for heart and lungs, balance and coordination. Eat right and sleep well. Perform phenomenally!

Video: Wall Push-Ups

Wall Push-Ups

Shoulder workout for those of us who get bored quickly.

First the horizontal position: The Trick here is to think about pushing the floor forward with your hands so that you stay planted against the wall to prevent the feet from slipping down.

The diagonal position: Seems to be the easiest.

The vertical position: Tends to have limited range of motion because your head is in the way.

Wall shuffles: These are great for coordination and actually easier than they look.

Human Flag

Human Flags

You don’t always need weights to have a great and challenging workout. Here’s a not so easy abdominal exercise that works primarily the obliques. Similar to doing side bends.

Pre-requisites:
Have the upper body and hand strength to hold and brace yourself up.
Have the abdominal strength to raise your lower body.



And to make it a little tougher… Hold your legs up tuck your knees into your chest then straighten back out and then lower the legs back down.

Advanced Version


Why the term flags? Because you look like a human flag when you hoist your body up like that.

The Rings: Part 1

Getting bored with push-ups, and the pec deck? Try this.

You’ll need rings from RingTraining.com, a pull-up bar or similar and a wall or something to put your feet on.

Here’s my recommended progression:
Lower the rings to about 2” off the floor. Start on your knees and perform push-ups. Next try chest flyes like you would on the pec Deck or with dumbbells. Then combine the two in a super set where you do as many flyes as possible then proceed right into doing as many push-ups as possible.

Once you gain stability in your arms make it tougher by going on your toes vs. the knees as mentioned above.

Next, try putting your feet on a bench or box. This progression keeps adding weight to your arms- more resistance.

Now before you try doing the feet on the wall version, I’d suggest practicing doing push-ups with your feet on the wall on hands on the floor. There’s a certain element of extra body stability required for this. Plus, you’ll learn that you’ll have to push yourself into the wall with your arms.

Got it down?

Now try the feet on the wall rings flyes and push-ups version. Once that gets easier you can add a weighted vest. And for those of you who are truly phenomenal… no feet! Then join a gymnastics team.

Monty's Boot Camp

Starting Saturday, March 21, 2009 and every Saturday through May - I will be offering a one hour Boot Camp. This is an intense session that will be located at various park locations around town. If you are looking to get into shape this spring or want to try something new - this is a workout session for you!

Prices
$50.00 (4 consecutive week sessions)
$35.00 (Current Clients - 4 consecutive week sessions)
$15.00 (Per Session)

Call or Text Monty Moran for more details
(701) 261-9636

This is also a great opportunity for those of you who workout at other gym locations or are not interested in a gym membership at this time!! As these will be outdoor exercise activities. Note: Due to weather Boot Camp will be moved indoors at the Sports Center.

Parent / Child Workout Sessions

I am excited to introduce a new program I am offering - Parent / Child Workout Sessions. These sessions will help build a bond with your child while getting fit. The workouts will be scheduled every Saturday.

I am holding a Trial Session on Saturday, February 7, 2009 from 10:00 am - 11:00 am. Stop by when you can, workout, and get more information on this new program. Regular sessions will begin February 14, 2009. Check out the flyer below for more information on age levels and rates.

These workout sessions will be held at the Sports Center in Fargo and in a safe workout environment.

Stay fit this year and get your child in the groove of working out!

Raise Your Workout Intensity… Go Ahead and Throw the Weights

By: Monty Moran

High intensity training bouts have now been shown to be more effective than steady state traditional cardio training for improving body composition. So what is high intensity training? What exercises are involved? What's the difference?

Take a look at Track & Field athletes, in general most people would say that, aesthetically, the sprinters and all around athletes (e.g. heptathalon through pentathalon) look to be in the best shape. What do they do? They run as fast as they can, jump as high or as far as possible and they throw for distance. Their efforts are high intensity. What do the distance athletes do? Run at a manageable pace, which hopefully will be faster than the others. Their efforts are limited to a pace or steady state cardio.

High intensity training or as some of my younger clients say, "hardcore training," involves activities such as sprinting, heavier weight lifting, jumping and throwing objects.

When training at a steady state (or a traditional "cardio" workout), the heart increases from its baseline rate to an elevated rate of generally 55-70% of maximum beats per minute. By doing this, the metabolism increases and more calories are burned during the workout session compared to not working out. However, as soon as the workout session is over, the heart slows down and metabolism returns to normal.

When incorporating high intensity training the rules change. 80-95% maximum heart is achieved but for short time periods (varying from six to sixty seconds). Rest between bouts is required because of the inability for the majority of people to sustain such a pace. The heart rate will climb towards a peak or maximum rate and then will (if in shape) quickly fall to 45-60% of max heart rate. This series of fluctuations requires greater quantities of oxygen and burns a greater amount of calories than steady state cardio training for any period of time. In addition, when the workout is finished the body goes into recovery mode; during which the metabolism stays elevated for at least 4 hours after the training session.

Make your next workout an intense experience. Run faster, jump higher and / or farther, lift heavier, throw farther. Talking during your workout should be the last thing on your mind, while trying to catch your breath may suddenly take top priority.

About Monty Moran

Monty Moran is the Director of Training for Cormax, a fitness consultant, entrepreneur and business coach. Visit www.cormax.us and see how he actually has his clients throw the weights when lifting.