I CRINGE every time I see some clown stroll into the gym cold off the street and start loading up the bar without completing a proper warmup.
Coincidentally it seems the same people who neglect this important part of their workout are the same people complaining about shoulder pain or back pain and wrap themselves up like a mummy before their workout with wrist wraps, elbow wraps, knee wraps and the infamous weight lifting belt for EVERY exercise so they can manage to get through their workout.
Even though I don’t recommend the “old school” warmups of walking on a treadmill for 5 minutes and then static stretching before your workout, (which I will explain in a future post) it is still a lot better than doing nothing at all!
What I do recommend is a Dynamic Warm-Up before you workout, so here is my current warmup I do before EVERY Dad Fitness workout to enhance muscular activation and increase joint mobility.
Give this one a try or let me know what you do for your workout warmup by leaving a comment below…
I just spent an awesome 5 days in Tampa Florida attending fitness seminars with all the best fitness experts in the world.
No matter what level of fitness knowledge you think you may have, you always need to look and learn from other trainers and coaches to improve your mind and body. As the author of Dad Fitness, I still strive to learn and improve my knowledge to help others get the fastest results possible.
After spending 5 days hanging out with guys like Craig Ballantyne of Men’s Health and fitness icon Shawn Phillips, I started to pick up on some of the secrets these guys use to stay in awesome shape even while traveling.
So here are 5 Tips To Stay Fit While Traveling.
1. Workout No Matter What. After a busy 5 days of sitting on my butt in meetings and seminars I still managed to workout 4 out of the 5 days while in Florida. Which is even more than I workout at home!
The first day I got together with Rommel Acda of FitInAHurry.com, and Deb Froehlich of CelluiteCircuits.com and we trained together in the hotel gym. It wasn’t very big but had enough to get a great workout using our bodyweight and a few dumbbells.
Then the next day along with Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training we all headed to the local Powerhouse gym to get a great workout in a more upbeat gym atmosphere.
Wether it’s a quick hotel room bodyweight workout, a hotel gym workout or a Powerhouse gym workout, just make sure you do some exercise while traveling to offset all the sitting down on airplanes and in meetings.
2. All You Can Eat. The great thing about travelling to new cities is experiencing new places to eat. But if you’re not careful you could be paying the airlines extra weight on the way home, and I am not talking about your luggage…
So do what all the fit trainers did every morning to start their day off right; eat a nutritious breakfast. Even though our hotel served a FREE buffet breakfast every morning, most everyone who is in great shape skipped the bacon and breads and had a huge freshly prepared omelet stuffed with veggies with a little fruit on the side, me included. Keep lunch small with a salad or whole grain wrap so you don’t get sleepy during the afternoon meetings, and enjoy a nice dinner with some lean meat and veggies and even a glass of wine.
3. Drink Up. I don’t mean spend your nights at the hotel bar getting sloshed. I mean drink lots of cold refreshing water. It will keep you full and focused and your mind off the donuts and croissants sitting across the conference table.
It’s really easy to drink lots of H2O during these hotel conferences as they usually serve you pitchers of water in your meeting rooms and in the big conference rooms. Just to be sure you always have water on hand, pick up a couple of litres of spring water at the hotel gift shop and keep on ice in your room.
4. Ditch the Cab. If you are up for some sight seeing or heading to a nearby restaurant for dinner, ditch the cab fare, get some directions and walk there instead. Google Maps on your smart phone works great for this! Walking is a great way to see a new city and burn some calories. Strolling back to the hotel after dinner is a great way to end the evening and ease the guilt from that decadent dessert.
You can also try to find a park or gym a couple miles away and walk or run there to get your heart pumping and your warmup out of the way.
5. Recharge. If you’re traveling solo, staying at a hotel is a great way to get some extra rest and relaxation. You get the bed to yourself, and you have no worries of the kids jumping in the bed at the wee hours of the morning.
It’s also a great time to catch up on some work or read that book you have been trying to get through. A dip in the hotel pool and a hot sauna afterwards might be just what you need to recharge your batteries before you get back on the road.
So there you have it, 5 Travel Tips To Stay Fit so you’re wife still recognizes you when you get home…
How do YOU stay fit on the road? Let me know and leave a comment below.
- Frozen orange juice anyone?
I am here in beautiful Tampa Bay, Florida and just finished a long day of seminar meetings with other fitness professionals. It’s been supposedly cooler here in Florida than normal with stories of the oranges freezing over and all that but 22 degrees Celsius is summer weather where I am from, so no complaints from me!
It’s going to be hard to go back home to cold Canada after enjoying the warm Florida sun! But I look forward to getting home with my wife and daughter after 5 days away…
So before I hit the sack I wanted to give you a heads up on my new shoulder training article that just came out in the newest issue of Inside Fitness magazine.
Besides back pain, shoulder problems is probably the next biggest complaint I get from busy dads who have been working out for awhile.
So to get bigger and stronger shoulders, try these tips the next time you workout.
Any type of movement requiring the upper body uses the shoulders for movement and control. When you bench press the shoulders take on a big part of the movement. When you work your back with rowing movements the shoulders also come into play in order for you to contract your shoulder blades. Then its the rotator cuff which holds your shoulder socket in place and is a common point of injury. Strong deltoid muscles also provide strong protection against injuries.
Below I am going to outline a some special intensity enhancement techniques to really blast your delts.
1. On the shoulder pressing movements, you want to keep the tension on your deltoid muscles. The way you do this is not to lock your arms out at the top of the pressing movement.. By not pressing the weight until your elbows lock you keep constant tension on the shoulders and away from the triceps. This allows you to overload your muscles without your triceps failing first.
2. When performing side lateral raises don’t stop at the end of the set as you normally would. Keep your elbows just slightly bent and the dumbbells by your sides, stand straight up with your chest forward and shoulders back. Raise the weights straight out from your sides completing a half of a regular rep. Do about 6 reps. This hits your side lateral deltoids directly and you will certainly feel it!
3. After your shoulder workout keep your shoulders strong and flexible by performing this shoulder static stretch. The goal is to be able to touch the fingertips together behind the back by reaching over the shoulder and under the elbow.To stretch each shoulder, reach with the right hand over the right shoulder and down the back as if to pull up a zipper or scratch between the shoulder blades. Hold for 10-15 seconds and repeat the other side.
Try these little tricks the next time you train and you will be busting out of your shirts in no time!
What’s your favorite shoulder exercises? Let me know and post a comment below!
Before I head off to Florida to attend some fitness business seminars I wanted to share with you some super healthy snacks that I had this weekend AND a quick and healthy recipe that only requires 2 ingredients!
…On Saturday night we headed over to my parents for some HNIC. HNIC is a Canadian tradition and stands for Hockey Night In Canada which airs on CBC for any of you south of the border.
My beloved Pittsburgh Penguins (defending Stanley Cup Champs) played and beat the Toronto Maple “Laughs… I mean Leafs 4-1.
But instead of the regular gut busting sport time munchies like chips and wings, we had two “Super Snacks” that tastes great and is great for you!
Wild Spicy Elk Sausage and Smoked Wild Arctic Char…
This was my first time trying Elk Sausage as Caribou and Moose is more common in our province. The Elk came from Alberta.
The Arctic Char was local and is a lot like the more common smoked salmon.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of trying to eat wild and local whenever possible to obtain the enormous health benefits of naturally wild foods.
These super snacks were given to us from friends and is a lean source of high quality protein rich in omega 3 fats which help fight inflammation in the body and actually help to burn fat.
But they also taste great!
…and speaking of sausage I got another quick and healthy recipe that you can try this week that to keep you fitter in 2010.
I know you probably don’t want to see another Turkey for awhile after the holidays but that doesn’t mean you have to turn away every recipe with the word Turkey!
So here is a simple healthy recipe for Turkey Sausage Stir-Fry that can be whipped up and on the dinner table in 20 minutes and it’s so simple even a Turkey can do it, no offense…
It only requires 2 ingredients so I don’t even know if you can call this a recipe.
It’s just a damn tasty and healthy meal that you can feed your family without having to worry about all the heart pounding fat and nitrites found it regular sausage.
Here is what I used:
1 pkg of Lilydale Tailgate Italian Turkey Sausage (hot)
1 bag of Artic Garden’s frozen mixed veggies (Thai)
For the sausages: Pre-heat skillet over medium heat, then add sausages and 250ML (1 cup) of water. Cover and heat for 10 minutes, turning sausages once. Remove cover, and cook until golden brown (Approximately 10 minutes).
Slice up sausages and set aside.
For the veggies: Pour vegetables in a microwaveable dish with 1/4 cup of water. Add vegetables. Cook in microwave on high power for recommended time.
Throw cooked sausage slices and cooked veggies back in skillet and stir and fry for a couple minutes.
That’s it. Serve and relish in the applause coming from the family dinner table!
Got a “Super Snack” idea you would like to share? Be sure to post a comment below!
One of the most common questions I get asked about working out is
“What do YOUR workout routine look like?
Well ever since I created The Dad Fitness System I would just point them to www.DadFitness.com where they can get their own copy of The Ultimate Fitness Plan For Busy Dads downloaded instantly to their computer.
It works for me and it’s working for other busy dads all around the world.
But this year I have been improving the Dad Fitness workouts to better fit MY busy lifestyle and for all of YOU living the Dad Fitness lifestyle as well.
You see, being a busy dad and husband working a full-time job and running a business on the side doesn’t allow me to spend 5-6 days a week working out at the gym to stay fit.
I will be honest though, I LOVE working out at the gym, especially our little dungeon of a gym here in town. No lineups, no machines, just torn up benches with some rusty barbells and dumbbells. I guess you can call me “old school”.
But as much as I would like to I can’t always get there as often as I wish as I spend most of my days off from working shift work staying home with my 19 month old daughter while my wife is at work.
Some weeks I find it hard to get to the gym even 3 days a week so I had to adapt and tweak the Dad Fitness workouts.
So I designed a workout routine that focuses on 2 gym workouts a week and one bodyweight workout a week, totaling 3 short but intense workouts a week. …Which is all most of us really need to get in great shape anyway.
I have been loving this routine as I can get in 2 intense gym workouts a week and have no problem getting in the 3rd bodyweight workout as it can be done at home with minimal equipment, at the gym or even at my local playground when the weather permits.
Now that’s the way workouts should be, they should fit around YOUR lifestyle, not the other way around like most programs you might find in the magazines.
I am building muscle, gaining strength and staying lean like never before and it’s all because of the intricate design of these workouts.
Every exercise, Every rep and Every set is specifically selected and has a scientific reason for being in the program.
This gives you the complete “Training Triangle” to build muscle, gain strength and burn fat all in minimum time and in one simple 3 day a week workout routine.
So here is the breakdown of what I like to call Dad Fitness 2.0
- 3 workouts a week consisting of 2 gym workouts and 1 bodyweight workout.
- The workouts rotate on a 2 week cycle meaning there is a Week 1 of workouts and a Week 2, before you repeat the same workouts.
- Each routine is followed for 8 weeks allowing each weekly workout to be completed 4 times.
This keeps my motivation high and prevents the dreaded training plateau by rotating exercises every 2 weeks instead of every week like most programs.
So here is an example of just of ONE of the weekly workout routines in the upcoming yet to be released Dad Fitness 2.0 Fitness Plan.
Day 1, Week 1, Gym
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Decline Barbell Bench Press, 2 sets of 4-6 reps.
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press, 2 sets of 6-8 reps
Standing Barbell Shoulder Press, 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Standing Triple Threat Dumbbell Lateral Raise Superset, (side, front and rear) 2 sets of 6-8 reps each
Lying Flat Ez Bar Tricep Extensions, 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Tricep Cable Pushdowns, 2 sets of 6-8 reps
Cable Crunch, 2 sets of 8-10 reps
Day 2, Week 1, Gym
Legs, Back and Biceps
Barbell Squats, 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Dumbbell Lunges, 2 sets of 6-8 reps
Weighted Pullups, 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Bent Over Barbell Rows, 2 sets of 6-8 reps
Standing Barbell Curls, 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Standing Dumbbell Curls, 2 sets of 6-8 reps
Standing Calf Raise, 2 set of 8-10 reps
Day 3, Week 1, Bodyweight
One Leg Squats, 3 sets of max reps
Medicine Ball Pushups, 3 sets of max reps
Inverted Pullups, 3 sets of max reps
Dips, 3 sets of max reps
Parallel Grip Pullups, 3 sets of max reps
Front Plank, 2 set of 60 secs
Side Plank, 2 sets of 45 secs
I don’t have an exact date yet for the release of Dad Fitness 2.0 but I am working hard to get it complete so it can be YOUR favorite workout of 2010!
and let me know your favorite workout of 2009 by posting a comment below…
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