2009 is quickly coming to a close so I thought I’d make you this quick little video to say thanks…
I hope you have a very Happy New Year and a killer 2010. I’m very excited about 2010 and you should be as well. It’s going to be an awesome year!
Stay safe and I’ll talk to you soon!
And remember…
…Be A Superhero Today!
Talk to you later,
The Fit Dad
The New Year is fast approaching and you know what that means…
…New Year’s Resolutions, and you know what that means…
…everybody telling themsevles they’re going to “lose weight” this year and that’s an awesome thing. If you need to lose weight, then NOW is the time to get up off your butt and do something.
The troubling thing is that most ladies won’t stick with their resolutions past a few months, if they even make it that long and I know it’s because their goals and resolutions have a huge problem.
Check this video out to see what I’m talking about and to see what your goals and resolutions should really look and sound like.
So what do you think?
Does that make sense?
I can tell you this – if you set goals the way I tell you, it makes it much easier to actually achieve them.
Leave a comment below and let me know what your resolutions are for this year.
I hope you have an awesome and safe New Year!
And remember…
…Be A Superhero Today!
Talk to you soon,
The Fit Dad
P.S. – One of my resolutions for 2010 is to give you more content on this blog so look out for a lot more videos, articles, nutrition tips, free workouts and special announcements. 2010 is going to rock and I want you to come along for the ride!
When I run boot camp, I try to mix in “regular” exercises like lunges, push-ups and big “combination” exercises along with some “odd” or out of the ordinary exercises.
I thought I’d share with you one of my new favorite boot camp exercises – The Plank Thrust.
I don’t know if I invented it, or if I saw it somewhere and it was stored waaaay back in my memory…but I’m going to claim it as my own 
It’s a pretty good core exercise and even hits the booty a bit…and if you pair it with some other “big” exercises it makes for an awesome full body workout.
Rather than trying to describe how to do it, I thought I’d make a video showing you what it should look like.
Be sure to put this fun little exercise in your workouts and let me know what you think.
Until next time…
Ed
There are a number of ways I like to torture, I mean train the ladies in boot camp. Sometimes I pair a couple especially devious exercises together to make your arms wiggle, while other times I might throw in a couple abs exercises that make it hurt to laugh the next day.
I do it out of love…really I do.
I’ve also got a number of “favorite” boot camp exercises including Push-ups, Mountain Climbers and Plank Extensions, just to name a few.
Another one of my favorite boot camp exercises is the Squat.
There are a number of different variations of the Squat that we do in boot camp, but the problem is most ladies do them wrong.
That’s not a good thing.
Give this video a watch and see how to do Squats properly, that way you can make sure you get the most out of each and every boot camp workout and be on the way to getting you firm, toned and sexy legs and booty.
Have an awesome day!
Ed
Back in June (or May?) I totally changed up the format of boot camp from the old “group” format where everybody did the same thing the entire class, to a station concept.
It’s been much more effective, helps break up the monotony and lets me use new toys in the workout – which is always a good thing.
But the really good thing about it is that I can better pair up exercises in each station and give each boot camp workout a “theme”.
Some days we spend a lot of time on the legs and butt, while others we hit the arms and abs extra hard while totally skipping the legs.
Sometimes it may seem the only reason I do this is to be mean and nasty, but there is actually a method to my madness – but you’re right…sometimes I do just like to be mean and nasty.
Take for example this quick video I made for you that shows an effective 2-exercise combination for the legs and butt.
The exercises are very simple and effective, but when you combine them it makes the workout that much more powerful to the legs and booty.
Then if you take that 2-exercise combination and throw it into a boot camp workout that’s all themed toward the same part of the body (along with some “easy” exercises to break up the intensity), you have yourself an awesome boot camp workout – not just a hard workout, which any goober trainer can make, but an effective workout that is designed for a purpose.
Have an awesome day!
Ed
P.S. – Always remember to pay attention to your form and tempo while doing the exercises. That gets overlooked by many people, and I help tweak form in boot camp, but I can’t do that when you’re not here (obviously) so you have to make sure you keep perfect form throughout the workout.
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Since I’ve been talking so much about Women’s Health this month…because I’m in it (page 74 if you haven’t seen it yet), I thought I’d share another little tidbit that I thought you might enjoy.
They covered a little workout “toy” called The Valslide. The Valslide is a little contraption that lets you rest your feet or hands on them, and slide along the floor.
Doing so makes exercises like lunges, push-ups, mountain climbers, leg curls, etc. a little bit more difficult because it forces you to work harder on balance and brings into play more muscles – plus they’re fun watching people use!
These puppies are one of my new favorite boot camp toys and if you’ve done anything with them you know why I love them…and why you hate them.
To better explain their use and show you a few exercises to use with them, check out this video I made…
Gotta love it!
Have an awesome day!
Ed
Oh, by the way you don’t have to use the Valslide – watch the video to see my cheaper version.
How To Do Plank Extensions
This puppy is one of my favorite to make you ladies do in boot camp.
You may think it’s because I like to come up with new (and fun) ways to torture you, but I do have other reasons…
…although torturing you is kinda fun.
But these boot camp exercises are one of my new favorite ways to work the core and abs.
One reason is they’re “different”. It’s good to throw in some different exercises for the abs because those muscles get used to things pretty quickly – and endless amounts of crunches and planks are boring.
So what I did was throw some wrinkles into the common plank to crank up the effectiveness a bit.
By now you know what a Plank Extension is, and some of the variations we do, but some of you may not know “how” to do them properly.
I try to keep up with you as much as possible in boot camp, but it’s tough to catch everything – plus I get yelled at if I spend too much time with one person (I don’t know why you’re complaining about doing Burpees for 2 minutes…they’re good for you).
Anyway, here’s a little video I made showing you how to do a few variations of Plank Extensions.
Let me know if you have any questions and don’t be afraid to leave comments. Running a blog gets lonely if nobody leaves comments.
Have an awesome day and I’ll talk to you soon!
Ed
I don’t think it would come as a surprise if I told you that I love push-ups, and to be more precise, I love making YOU do push-ups.
There really is no better exercise to strengthen and tone the upper body than the push-up.
They work the chest, shoulders and triceps (back of your arms) – plus it’s one of the best core exercises around.
They’re also great for your posture. Over the years, as new clients come in, I’ve noticed their posture is horrible. It’s usually because they have desk jobs or drive a lot. It’s also because your chest and shoulders are weak – push-ups help correct that postural imbalance.
Plus you want to get stronger, right? Most women are weaker in the upper body and tend to shy away from exercises like push-ups in favor of exercises they’re naturally better at, but that’s a very unwise move. You NEED to do exercises like push-ups so you can get stronger – you shouldn’t avoid them because you’re not very good at them.
You will get better; you just have to keep doing them.
The problem is that most ladies do them wrong when they first begin to do push-ups. I correct as much as I can in boot camp, but I am a little limited in how much time I can give, plus I can’t watch you while you’re doing them at home.
For that reason, I made this video laying out exactly how to do a push-up.
Check it out below:
Last month for my “L” column I did an article on how push-ups are a great core exercise.
Not many people think of Push-ups as anything other than something they were forced to do (either by me in boot camp, or in their nightmares from gym class). Nobody thinks of them as working anything else but their arms, chest and shoulders, but they are a great core exercise.
It is one of the reasons I include them in all our boot camp classes. Plus I love to see your faces when I tell you what variation of the dreaded push-up we’re doing.
Before I get into my rationale, I figured I’d let you see a video of me describing my “why”.
Make sense?
If you have any questions, leave a comment below.
Have an awesome day and I’ll talk to you soon!
Ed
I decided to kick this new boot camp blog off with a little video I made last week.
It’s not a workout video, nor am I showing you how to do any of the exercises we do in boot camp.
This video shows you an exercise that really helps your posture and helps “straighten out” your shoulders and loosen up your chest, upper back/neck.
Most of us spend way too much time sitting behind a desk or driving and that kills our shoulders. It gives us rounded shoulders, leads to muscle imbalances, makes our chest tight, upper back weak and will make you look like the Hunchback From Notre Dame if you don’t nip it in the bud.
This exercise is ridiculously simple and can be done anywhere you find a wall.
If you have problems with your upper back, neck, or sit too much do this exercise 1-3 times per day for 30-45 seconds each time.
Have a great day!
Ed
The first thing you need to understand about me is that I believe ALL parents are superheroes...some just have a little too much flabby goo covering their Superhero Body. To learn more about The Fit Dad's story, Click here