Showing posts with label Circuit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Circuit. Show all posts

Tuesday, 7 October 2014

Tire Training Guide: 13 Tire-Based Exercises And One Killer Circuit Workout!

New Exercise and Fitness Review




Vital Stats



Name: Rachelle Dejean
Height: 5’2″
Occupation: IFBB bikini pro, fitness model, freelance graphic designer
Website: rachelledejean.weebly.com



Summer might be winding down, but that doesn’t mean you have to kiss outdoor workouts goodbye. There’s no better way to push yourself while enjoying the fresh air than with a tire workout. This one, basic piece of equipment offers up a ton of workout variations. Plus, tires can be acquired rather easily and are great for challenging your power, strength, and conditioning.


I have an NCAA D1 background in volleyball and track, and I like to keep sports performance and functional training in my regimen. While I currently train for a balanced and well-conditioned physique to compete as an IFBB bikini pro, that doesn’t mean I need to let my athleticism suffer. Tire workouts are the perfect way to get physique and performance benefits in one stop.


Where To Get Your Tires


I purchased my giant tire from a local shop. Not sure where to get yours? Do some research online to scope out a tire dealership or a place that sells farm tires. In most cases, they’ll be pretty cheap (between $ 20-100). Otherwise, drive around with your eyes peeled for a free junkyard tire.


The next step is to consider the weight you want to use. For women, I suggest anywhere from 100-300 pounds, which will vary depending on your strength and goals. (I weigh 105 pounds, and my tire is roughly 200 pounds.) For men, 300-500 pounds is great to kick your workout into high gear.


Keep in mind that, if you want to rep it out, you can still have an effective workout with a relatively light tire. Safety is top priority, so stick with a size that’s realistic for you.


Hit The Road


Once you’ve got your weapon of choice, you can throw any or all of the following exercises together in a full circuit-style workout, or you can do them individually. Again, consider what’s most realistic for you and how you like to train. The weight of your tire will help you determine the reps and sets in your program.


Below are some of my favorite exercises and their benefits. Check them out!


Tire (Box) Jumps


Lay your tire flat on its side like a box. Face the tire with your feet shoulder-width apart. Squat down slightly, as if you’re going to jump straight into the air. Your arms will naturally swing backwards and return forward as you leap onto the tire. Both feet should land softly on the tire. While the tire has some give to it, landing too heavily can hurt your knees upon impact. Consider this practice.


Benefit: Tire jumps are a functional exercise that can help improve your explosiveness for running and increase your vertical jump. As your vertical jump improves, test yourself by gradually increasing the height of the object you’re using.


Triceps Dips


Facing away from the tire, place your arms behind you. Rest the palms of your hands on the tire with your arms fully extended. Place your feet approximately half of your body length in front of the tire. This will be your starting position. Bend at the elbows into a 90-degree angle while lowering your body slowly until your bottom almost touches the ground. Return to a straight-arm position. This is one full repetition.


Benefit: This exercise is the same as a bench dip—it’s a slow, controlled movement to work your triceps. If the movement is too easy, add a plate to your lap or use it as an “active rest” in between other tire-based exercises.


Decline Push-Ups


This exercise really takes floor push-ups from beginner to advanced. Facing away from the tire, place your hands on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Place both of your feet on the tire behind you and raise yourself up into a plank position. Keeping your body straight, lower your upper body toward the floor by bending both arms at 90-degree angles. Next, push up until your arms are fully extended again.


Benefit: This will primarily work the upper pectoral muscles, in addition to the lower pecs and core.


Lateral Jumps


Begin by standing upright and parallel to the tire. Next, squat slightly, bending your knees in a way that distributes your weight evenly. Avoid curving your back or bending at the hips. Jump sideways (laterally) onto the tire, and land in a half-squat position. As with a box jump, you want to land softly to lessen impact. Step (or jump) down from the tire and repeat.


Benefit: Lateral movements—jumps, in this case—are a great way to develop power and agility through explosiveness while improving strength in your lower body (hip abductors, adductors) and stability in your ankles, hips, and knees. Performing a lateral jump includes squatting, a great lower-body and core exercise.


Toe Touches


Stand facing the tire. Drive your left knee up and touch the tire with your toe. As your left knee drives up, your right arm will swing back, similar to a running stance. Return your left foot to the ground as you drive your right knee up, your left hand back, and your foot to the tire. Repeat. The key is to move as quickly and swiftly as possible. The lighter you tap the tire, the quicker you can switch feet.


Benefit: This exercise focuses on acceleration and foot speed and develops your hip flexors. Weak hip flexors can affect your stride length and overall speed.


Step-Ups


Face the tire and place your left foot on it. Use this platform as a foundation to push off the step. Push through your heel to explode vertically. While in the air, your legs will naturally meet again side by side; switch your opposite leg to rest on the tire as you come down. Land softly on the ball of your stable foot so you can promptly explode back up to repeat.


Benefit: This exercise trains the legs and hips with the quads and glutes. The intent is to explode from the tire in a speedy manner, and this explosiveness can be transferred into many sports activities.



Broad Jumps Over Tire


Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Drop into a squat as you swing your arms back. As you explode into your maximum jump, swing your arms through, using that momentum to thrust your hips forward and land as far forward as possible. You should land in a controlled squat position with both feet. A strong core can help you land properly.


More advanced broad jumpers can perform this one leg at a time. The key to a broad jump is to jump as far forward as possible from a static position, and to land balanced. The momentum should not be generated with a prestep or hop before the jump.


Benefit: This is a great exercise to develop explosive power and improve the fast-twice muscle fiber reaction; it requires your leg and core muscles to quickly contract to create maximum force with each jump.


Pop Squats


Lay the tire flat on the ground. Stand in the hole in the center of your tire. Bend your knees slightly and hop upward to land on the tire in a 90-degree squat with both feet on opposite sides of the tire. Hop upward again, returning to a standing position within the hole of the tire. This is one repetition. Repeat.


Benefit: Pop squats target your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and core. Do enough of these at a relatively fast pace and you’ll also improve cardiovascular endurance.


Tire Flips


Start with the tire flat on the ground. Place your fingers under the tire while it is in this position. Your hands and feet should be shoulder-width apart. Squat down deep, bending at the knees. As you return to a standing position, pull the tire up. Make sure to use your whole body—especially your legs—to avoid lifting solely with your back. The momentum you create should allow you to change your hand position from a pull to a push. Push the tire forward. Once it is flat, repeat the process.


Benefit: Tire flips cover all the bases—your core, back, legs, arms, and shoulders. Just be careful when you bend to pick the tire up. Leave your ego at home! If you need a lighter tire, make the switch. You can risk serious injury if you are bending at the hips and using your back instead of bending at the knees and using your full body and engaged core to lift and push.


“Tire flips cover all the bases—your core, back, legs, arms, and shoulders.”


Advanced Moves


If you’re very comfortable with the above exercises, then I encourage you to try some more advanced tire workouts. How do you know if you are ready? Use the following as a gauge:


  • You weight train frequently and are familiar with pushing and pulling twice your body weight (or the weight of your tire).

  • You do exercises such as box jumps, broad jumps, or other sports performance training regularly.

  • You often train with HIIT-style workouts.

  • You can do 10 or more tire flips continuously (with the size of tire you have available).

Back And Forth Tire Flip


This is a three-step process (two jumps and a flip). First, you jump into the hole of the tire. Second, you jump forward (out) of the tire, landing on the opposite side you came from. Lastly, you turn to face the tire and prepare to flip it in the direction you came from. Repeat for 8-10 flips, or as many as you can before you need to rest.


Benefit: This is a power and strength exercise from head to toe. As an added benefit, it also tests your cardiovascular system!


Tire Pushes (Partner Exercise)


The tire should be standing upright. You and a partner will each face one side of the tire and stand about arm’s-length apart. Prepare your foundation with a staggered stance; plant one foot slightly ahead of the other at a distance that feels good for you. Place your hands (palms facing forward) in line with your chest, and push the tire back and forth. Your elbows should be slightly bent, so you can receive the tire with a cushion, and then push the tire back to your partner.


Benefit: Similar to the bench press, this movement engages your chest as you push, and your arms as you receive the tire from your partner. You also need strong legs and core to withstand the weight of the tire. This is a fun way to work on your upper-body strength.


Tire Flip To Sprint


Have a friend time you as you complete tire flips for 20-25 yards. Once you finish flipping— from start to finish—turn around and sprint back to the start. Take a 1-2 minute rest as your friend completes the same exercise. Complete two more rounds, and try to beat your time each round.


Benefit: This strengthening exercise also incorporates explosive power from sprints.


Burpee + Lateral Jumps


Lateral jump from one side of the tire, onto the tire, and then onto the other side. Complete a burpee. Jump laterally back onto the tire, then jump onto the other side. Do a burpee. Repeat. One burpee on each side of the tire is 1 full repetition. Complete 10 reps in each set.


Benefit: Burpees and jumps alone can get old fast. This is an unconventional way to take regular exercises to another level. Is the tire necessary? Not really, but it’s a fun one to try with a partner, or alone to really get your heart pumping.


The Workout


Now, let’s put it all together! Here’s a glimpse of how I would combine the exercises we just discussed. Warm up with a 10-minute run/walk followed by dynamic stretching. This is crucial; don’t forget to stretch!


I have the circuit broken down into three groups of three exercises. All nine exercises equal one round. You may take a rest after every third exercise, if needed. If not, power through until you complete one full round. Then, take 1-2 minutes rest.



Circuit: 3 rounds




Finishing Move


Looking for that little extra push? One you’ve finished three rounds, try this gasser. Complete a 20-25 yard continuous tire flip to one end of the street; then sprint back to the start. Have your partner time you. Rest for 1 minute and repeat 3-5 times, trying to set a PR each time.




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Tire Training Guide: 13 Tire-Based Exercises And One Killer Circuit Workout!
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Sunday, 28 September 2014

High-Load Circuit Training For Muscle Gain And Fat Loss

New Exercise and Fitness Review


When it’s obvious you work out, friends—and even strangers—don’t miss an opportunity to ask for advice. The most common questions I hear are: “How do I gain muscle?” and “How can I lose fat?”


Often, both questions come in the same breath.


More than one road leads to Rome—there are multiple ways to arrive at your destination, which in this case is to build muscle and get cut.


So let’s take a look at one of my favorite ways to achieve both.


Train For Two Objectives


While the goals of building muscle and getting cut may appear unrelated, they’re actually intertwined. Gaining muscle mass is all about training methods that affect the hormonal system, particularly testosterone and growth hormone, the body’s two main anabolic (muscle-building) hormones.


The training methods that have been shown to increase testosterone levels in the body are those that:


  • Use a large degree of muscle mass

  • Are loaded heavily (above 85 percent of one-rep maximum)

  • Use multiple sets and exercises to achieve a high workout training volume

  • Follow short rest intervals of less than one minute1

Multiple sets with short rest intervals that elevate lactate levels also increase growth hormone release.1


Gaining muscle mass is all about training methods that affect the hormonal system, particularly testosterone and growth hormone, the body’s two main anabolic (muscle-building) hormones.


While affecting the hormonal system is the main goal of training to increase muscle mass, affecting the metabolic rate is the focus of exercise for fat loss. The largest contributor to daily energy expenditure is your resting metabolic rate, and the only contributor to resting metabolic rate that you can control is your body composition. Increasing muscle mass increases your resting metabolic rate.2


I told you these two goals were interconnected!


While manipulating your resting metabolic rate has the greatest effect on caloric expenditure, exercise that temporarily increases your metabolism can aid in fat loss as well.2 This acute change has two aspects. One is the increase in metabolism during exercise. The other is the elevation in energy expenditure after exercise needed to return your body to its resting state, which is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC. The greater the intensity of your workout, the greater the increase in metabolism both during and after exercise.1


One method in particular can be used to increase hormonal production and metabolism during and after exercise: high-load circuit training. It may sound like a sign on a chain link fence surrounding a power plant, but it involves three variables that are conducive to gains in muscle mass and the loss of fat mass: multiple exercises, high loads, and short rest intervals.


Let me explain how to best design a high-load circuit, and then I’ll give a few examples that I like to use.


1 Exercise Selection



I have two rules for selecting exercises for this type of training. First, they have to be large multijoint mass movements, as this increases testosterone release while requiring a greater energy expenditure to perform.


Second, always choose the simplest version of a movement. This is a fast-paced workout that incites muscle fatigue, so any exercise that requires a lot of technical skill and form is less than ideal here.


Think squat jumps instead of Olympic lifts, trap bar deadlifts instead of traditional ones, and goblet squats as opposed to barbell squats. Save the technical lifts for lifting days with dedicated rest periods.


2 Number Of Exercises



Beginners should start with 3-5 different movements, and progress to as many as 8. Logistics can play a part in determining how many different exercises you do; don’t be that person in the gym who takes it over with no regard for anyone else. Train during your gym’s off-hours if necessary.


3 Exercise Split



For a greater increase of in-session metabolism, I prefer using full-body training sessions. Nonetheless, these methods can easily be split into upper and lower body or other body parts such as quads, back and arms one session and glutes, hamstrings, chest and shoulders the next.



Goblet Squat

4 Number Of Reps And Load



In my experience, doing 3-6 reps is the sweet spot for this type of training. As this is done in a circuit fashion with incomplete rest, you’ll be unable to perform the same loads as during traditional lifting sessions.


So instead of choosing your 6RM (that is, a weight that’s about 80 percent of your one-rep max), I suggest subtracting an extra 5-10 percent, so you’d instead be doing 70-75 percent of your 1RM.


That equates to choosing a weight you can do for about 10 reps, but again do only 5. Be somewhat conservative: You can always increase the load.


5 Number Of Sets And Rest Intervals



Here’s where things get fun. Just like the number of reps, 3-6 sets is the best range of volume for this training method. If you like your workouts paced like clockwork, take 30-60 seconds rest between each exercise. Alternatively, wear a heart-rate monitor and rest until your heart reaches the anaerobic threshold (if you know it) or down to approximately a 150-160 beats. Or, with workouts that switch body areas, just push through the circuit, resting only as needed.


If you like your workouts paced like clockwork, take 30-60 seconds rest between each exercise.


This brings me to another approach to prescribing the number of sets. High-load circuit training can be applied to what are called “escalating density workouts.” These sessions are performed for time as opposed to an established number of sets. You simply perform as much as you can within the timeframe (thus increasing the density of the workout), resting when needed.


For high-load circuit training, I usually time my sets between 8-15 minutes, depending on the number of exercises (more exercises equals more time).


6 Frequency



These training variables are great at expending energy and increasing anabolic hormone release. However, the catabolic hormone cortisol is also increased as a result of large muscle mass and high-intensity, low-rest interval training. While these elevated levels of cortisol are essential in the short term for muscle gain and tissue repair, chronically high levels will decrease protein synthesis and lead to decreased immune function. In other words, say goodbye to muscle mass and hello to illness.


Exercise caution with this style of exercise. I suggest 1-2 of these workouts per week with 1-2 other traditional lifting days, and the other days filled with lower-intensity training.


TWO HIGH-LOAD CIRCUITS


1 Traditional Weight Circuit




  • Try and do all six exercises as a circuit, resting no more than 30 seconds between exercises. If that’s not possible, try and do all the exercises with dumbbells or kettlebells in a small area.




  • Choose a weight that’s about 75 percent of your max weight, or the weight you can just do for 10 reps (your 10RM), but do only five reps.




  • Repeat the circuit a total of five times.




  • With underhand-grip chin-ups, add weight or use an assisted machine as needed.




  • For the push-ups, use a weighted vest or have a partner place a plate or two across your back.




  • The suspension row is usually done with TRX straps or rings, but could alternately be done as a bent-over barbell row. The TRX movement is not done with an added load.





2 The Big Tuna Circuit



(Named after the most demanding coach I ever played for)



  • Perform as many rounds in 12 minutes as possible, rest five minutes, and repeat for another 12 minutes. Use a kettlebell or dumbbells.




  • Select a weight that’s 60-70 percent of your 1RM. Do just six reps.




  • Do the exercises in a circuit, resting 30 seconds between movements.







References

  1. Baechle, T., & Earle, R. (2008). Essentials of strength training and conditioning (3rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

  2. Stiegler, P., & Cunliffe, A. (2006). The Role Of Diet And Exercise For The Maintenance Of Fat-Free Mass And Resting Metabolic Rate During Weight Loss. Sports Medicine, 36, 239-262.


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