Hey!

I don’t know if you read “L Magzine,” but this is an article that was in last month’s issue…about me being in a different magazine.

It’s kinda weird – it’s like Inception where there’s the dream within a dream within a dream thing.  I’m posting an article on my blog that I wrote for a different publication, about me being in another publication.  Spooky stuff…

Anyway, read on:

Do you ever read “Women’s Health” magazine?

I'm in this issue

You may have heard that I’ve been in the magazine before as a quoted “expert” (pat, pat, pat…that’s me patting myself on the back…and that’s the sound of my ego ripping through the computer).

On a serious note, it is very cool to be featured in the magazine, and it’s happened again!

I was another quoted expert for this month’s workout, so make sure you go out and buy the magazine to see what the workout is!

My tip had to do with adding an extra “1/2 rep” to some of your bodyweight exercises.

This is a sneaky little trick I’ve been using with my clients in both boot camp and 1-1 workouts and it’s incredible just how much extra “oomph” it puts in to an otherwise simple exercise.

In the magazine I talk about adding a ½ rep to a Jump Squat, but it can be virtually any exercise, and truth be told, you have to have perfect form and function to add a ½ rep to a Jump Squat.

But you can add them to Bodyweight Squats, Push-ups, Hip Extensions and even things like Shoulder Presses.

Let’s use the Bodyweight Squat as an example…

Stand with your feet about hip-width apart and your tummy tight.

Start into the squat by pressing your hips back and then bending form the knees.

Your butt must move back before you bend your knees!

Lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor, or you feel as though your heels will come off the ground (don’t let them).  Pause, then raise yourself HALF WAY back up to the starting position…

Then lower yourself back down and then raise yourself back in to the full standing position.

That extra ½ rep adds a lot of extra intensity, and you’ll feel it at about rep 8 or 9

But make sure you use perfect form throughout the exercise.  If your form is out of whack, the exercise won’t give you any benefit and may end up in an injury.

One of the reasons that extra little bounce adds so much extra intensity ot the exercise is because it increases something called “Time Under Tension” which is the amount of time your muscles are actively being flexed and stretched (not relaxed).

The longer the tension, the more the muscles get worked…to a point.

You know that burn you start to feel?  That’s partly due to the increase Time Under Tension.

And, like I said earlier, you can add the little ½ rep to a myriad of exercises, and we often do in boot camp and my 1-1 sessions…much to everyone’s moaning and groaning.

It’s all in good fun I assure you!  There are no devious thoughts racing through my mind at all (insert fiendish laugh).

Okay, so now it’s your turn to give it a try.

Pick one of the workouts I’ve given you and wherever you see a Bodyweight Squat, replace it with a 1 ½ Squat and watch the intensity increase.

And go buy this month’s issue of Women’s Health before it’s off the newsstand (I don’t get paid if you purchase) because the workout in there is pretty good – even if I didn’t write it

Have an awesome day!

Ed

P.S. – if you want to buy another good book put out by Women’s Health, that I’m also in, go buy the “Big Book Of Exercises.”  I have a few workouts toward the end.