FACT:

A lot of gym rats might be able to load up the bar with hundreds of pounds for endless sets of the bench press but can’t even do 10 correct push ups…

I don’t think you have any business bench pressing if you can’t properly perform 20 perfect pushups.

If you can’t handle your own bodyweight, how functional is it to lie down on a bench and press additional weight?

Don’t get me wrong, the basic barbell bench press is a great upper body exercise for building muscle, but it’s depended on WAY too much to build a strong chest and shoulders.

Most people consider Pushups and Bench Presses both chest dominant exercises. But there is a big difference between the two…

The bench press is an open chain exercise and the pushup is a closed chain exercise.

The “chain” just refers to the kinetic chain of your body, which simply means that all of your body’s muscles are inter-connected in a “chain” and therefore the movements you make are also part of a that kinetic chain.

Open chain exercises allow your feet or hands to move freely like in a bench press, dumbbell curl or leg curl.

Closed chain exercises keep your feet or hands in a fixed position like on the ground during pushups or squats and even chinups.

Closed chain exercises are safer and more effective for real world functional strength because they allow your bodyweight to move through space in a full range of motion while distributing muscular stress through many muscles instead of isolating and stressing single muscles.

A big reason why so many bench press addicts develop shoulder problems is because of not the shoulders directly but due to the lack of movement in your upper back when pinned to a bench during bench presses.

The muscles in your upper back surrounding your shoulders blades and scapula play a crucial role in stabilizing and allowing movement of your shoulder girdle during pressing movements.

Pushups eliminates this problem by allowing your upper back to contract in a full range of motion when you lower yourself to the ground.

Plus for busy dads bodyweight exercises are great because they can be done anywhere without any equipment!

So if you want to incorporate a simple but intense pushup workout into your workout routine give the 100 rep pushup workout a try.

Once or twice a week at the end of your regular workout aim for performing 100 pushups and time yourself to see how long it takes you.

Do as many reps as you can and do however many sets it takes you to reach 100.

For example if you can do 20 pushups at one time before failure start with 20 but as you fatigue you will probably drop down to sets of 10. You will obviously need more rest between sets as you get closer to 100.

Take as much rest as you need to get at least 10 reps for each set until you reach the 100 rep mark.

Most guys in pretty good shape will be able to complete 100 reps anywhere between 5-10 minutes.

Don’t worry how long it takes you. Just record your time and push hard to beat it the next time around.

Before you know it you will join the pushup century club and have the perfect pecs to prove it!

Perfect Pushups Tips

*Keep your abs braced tight and your hips in line with your body.

*Tuck your chin in like a “double chin” and look straight down at the floor to form a straight line from your head to your toes.

*Push your elbows and upper arms back in a 45 degree direction opposed to straight out to your sides.

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Ever since I got interested in health and fitness in my early teens I began to realize how important it was to learn how to cook for myself and cook REAL food that also tastes great.

Even at a really young age I would rather watch a cooking show on TV than watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles… But I do share the turtles love for pizza!

Basic cooking and learning what REAL food is should be a skill that EVERY kid is taught in school, right up there with math and science.

Now that I am a father I realize even more, how important it is to not only play a part in preparing healthy food for myself but also for my daughter.

Even at 20 months old her favorite snack is fresh fruit and berries and at dinner last night she asked for more broccoli!

Don’t get me wrong, I am no food Nazi!  I think it’s one of the greatest pleasures of life.  But I think most people live to eat instead of eating to live…

We still let her enjoy being a kid and let her eat some of the treats and sweets that we all have on occasion.  Mostly when she is out visiting family and friends we loosen up on the food rules but when she is home most of the time we try and feed her the healthy meals that we prepare as a family.

After stumbling onto Jamie Oliver on the Food Network a few years back I watched as this guy with the funny accent not only cooked quick great tasting food but also started a food revolution to combat the skyrocketing child obesity rates in the world today.

Plus Jamie is also a busy dad so he knows what works and what’s practical when it comes to feeding kids healthy meals.

It made me realize that as parents teaching kids about healthy eating can be the biggest contribution we can make to the next generation.

If you are a parent, I highly recommend you take a few minutes out of your day to watch this powerful video!

I REALLY want to hear what you think!

Let me know by leaving a comment below…

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What can you do in 3 minutes?

You can make your bed…

You can update your Facebook status…

You can cook 3 batches of Minute Rice…

OK maybe there is a lot of things you can do in 3 minutes.

But one of the biggest obstacles we have as busy dads is finding the time to stick with our workout routine.

But in reality we all have the same amount of time in a day, so it’s really about how we MANAGE our time.

No matter what your situation, there are other dads out there juggling a lot more than you when it comes to family and fitness.

So for those days when you are about to write your scheduled workout off because of no time, I got you covered.

The 3 Minute Workout.

This bodyweight workout can be done anywhere at anytime without any equipment.

No, this shouldn’t replace your regular workout, despite what the TV infomercials want you to believe, you won’t get abs in 7 minutes!

But for a quick metabolic boost that will give you some energy and burn up some calories, put this workout in your training toolbox as an Emergency Workout.

So you now have NO EXCUSES. But you do have 3 minutes…

Do you have an Emergency Workout? Let me know by posting a comment below.

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After watching an episode of Sponge Bob Square Pants with my daughter it got me in the mood to try a new recipe…

So in honor of Sponge Bob’s tasty Krabby Patties (if you have kids you know what I am talking about…)

It’s a super simple recipe that is high in protein which is good for building lean muscle but without all the gut busting fats that are found in the deep fried batter and tartar sauce covered cakes you might see at your typical seafood restaurant.

Crispy Crab Cakes

1 can of crab meat

2 tbsp minced jalapenos

2 green onions

1/2 of minced red bell pepper

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 tsp dijon mustard

juice of 1 lemon

garlic seasoning

salt and pepper

3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425 F

Mix everything in a bowl except 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs

Using your hands form the crab cakes into patties.

Spread the remaining bread crumbs on a plate and coat each pattie in the crumbs.

Shape each breaded crab cake into patties the size of hockey pucks….
GO CANADA!

Place them on a non-stick baking sheet. I like to cover the baking sheet with parchment paper for no stick and easy clean-up.

Bake for 15 minutes or until brown and crispy.

Top with a spoonful of plain yogurt or seafood sauce. Enjoy!

For more meals plans for men go to www.DadFitness.com to get the Dad Fitness Cookbook for FREE!

Do you have a favorite quick and healthy recipe? Let me know by posting a comment below.

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With the Olympics under way today and Valentine’s Day on Sunday, (a little reminder guys!) I hope you have a great weekend of fitness, family and fun.

But, before you do…

Your mother always told you to “eat your breakfast”, it’s the most important meal of the day!” Well, your Mom was right…again

Just think of the word Break-Fast for a minute. You are breaking the fast of going all night without eating and get this…eating breakfast is a daily habit for the people who belong to The National Weight Control Registry. These people have maintained a 30-pound (or more) weight loss for at least a year, and some as long as six years!

If you skip breakfast you end up replacing calories during the day with mindless nibbling, bingeing at lunch and dinner, and you are setting yourself up for failure from the start.

Stay away from white breads and bagels if you want to avoid the mid-morning carb coma and reach for some perfect protein…the egg.

The egg is a complete protein food because egg protein has all nine of the essential amino acids (as well as all nine of the non-essential amino acids). Egg protein is second only to mother’s milk for human nutrition!

…and despite what Joe bodybuilder at your gym might tell you, eat the WHOLE egg! It contains half the protein and all the essential fats, vitamins and minerals

The omega 3 enriched eggs are a better choice for the healthy fats and free range eggs from your local farmers market is even better again as they are of much higher nutritional quality than eggs from confinement chickens..

*Data taken from the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 15.

Starting off the day with a good source of protein and healthy fat will help you build fat burning muscle, give you sustained energy and keep you full longer.

So here is a quick 5 minute breakfast recipe for Jamaican Scrambled Eggs that is good for your taste buds and even better for your body…Now get cracking!

PS. If you didn’t see my previous emails…

The incredible three-day launch of the new TACFIT Workout ends TONIGHT at midnight!

TACFIT Commando is a comprehensive 3-month equipment-free, follow-along bodyweight exercise program that’s leaving even fitness professionals shaking their heads in amazement–and gym owners who stick their clients with high monthly fees quaking in fear.

If you’re even slightly interested in the program that just raised the bar in the world of health and fitness by breaking all the rules, this is the one you need to check out:

==>http://www.tacfitworkout.com

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