How to Peel an Egg the EASY Way!

This is kind of fun! So one night my friends and I were hanging out when we saw a video of Tim Ferris peeling an egg. Now I've already read "The 4-Hour Body", by Tim Ferris, so I know that this guy loves efficiency and productivity. So we watch it. In this video I test it and it works like a charm... with funny noises...

*I apologize for the monotone voice and the video being sideways. I'm searching for some good video editing software (suggestions?). As for the voice, it will improve in time. 

"The 4-Hour Body" - an entertaining read for those who enjoy experiments. There are some take-away lessons but I wouldn't say it's a good book to model your program on. But it is entertaining and makes you think.

Tim is also the author of "The 4-Hour Work Week." I haven't read this one yet, but I know it will be stimulatingly entertaining! 




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Fit Mom in a Hurry

You wake up, make breakfast for the family, and get started with the day's errands. After running around like a chicken with it's head caught off you go to make dinner before picking the kids up from school. Along the way you realize you haven't even gone shopping for the groceries to make dinner and the laundry's not going to fold itself. How in the world are you ever going to fit in a workout to get that toned body you want?

Don't fear, the amazing full body circuit is here!

This is a quick, simple full body resistance circuit that will help tone muscle, burn fat, and maybe keep you sane!

I know you maybe in a hurry so let's get to it! Each exercise is performed for 1 minute. In that 1 minute, perform as many QUALITY repetitions as possible and move on to the next exercise with as little rest as possible. You should be breathing heavily after the first few exercises.

     1.) Squat - Stand in front of a chair or sofa with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Sit BACK onto the chair or sofa making sure your knees don't go in front of your toes. You should feel the pressure in your heels. Stay nice and tall. If done correctly, you will probably fall back into the sofa or chair so be prepared and don't worry. You are on the right track to saving your knees from undue stress. Now stand, making sure your knees do NOT buckle in. Great job! That is repetition number 1! This will work your legs and butt.

     2.) Push Up - This does not have to be done from the floor. You can start with your hands on a wall placed slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Keeping abs and butt cheeks TIGHT descend until you feel you can go no lower without losing form and squirming. Now, keep the upper arms at about 45 degrees to the torso (to save the shoulder from undue stress) push the wall away from you. Once this is easy you can move down to a sturdy piece of furniture like the back of a heavy sofa and keep working at it until you are doing kneeling push ups on the floor and eventually from the toes. This will work your chest, shoulders, triceps, and abs. Every time you push back up is 1 rep.

     3.) Band Pull Apart - You'll need a resistance band or tubing for this one. Grip the band with a shoulder width grip so the band is straight; not tight but not hanging. Hold the band out in front of you at chest level. Now, with arms straight, spread the band apart, moving your arms out to the side until the band is almost touching your chest. By now the band should be quite tight. Slowly bring your arms back in front of you but don't let the band hang. This will work the back of the shoulders and your triceps. Every time you pull the band apart is 1 rep.

     4.) Low Back Floor Presses - Even though this is called a "back press" it actually works your abs. Start by lying on your back with your legs bent to 90 degrees and feet flat on the floor. Now press your low back into the floor as hard as you can. Your entire back should be in contact with the floor with the exception of the base of your neck. Hold for 5 seconds and relax. This will teach you how to PROPERLY flex your abs. Once these become easier you can progress to leg raises, planks, and other exercises. Every 5 second hold is 1 rep.

Again, perform each exercise for as many quality repetitions as possible. Perform each exercise after the other with as little rest as possible. One round should take 4-5 minutes. You can either do a warm-up of your choice or you can do the first round as technique practice and warm-up (not pushing too hard). Perform 2-3 rounds or just 1 round if you're REALLY in a hurry. Some exercise is usually better than none. Rest 1 minute between rounds. Afterwards, take 5 minutes or so to stretch at least your hamstrings, quads, chest, and shoulders. Feel free to stretch more. You can include a glute (butt) stretch, calf stretch, and so on. Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds.

All-in-all this should take anywhere from 10 - 30 minutes depending on how much you rest and how many rounds you are performing. This circuit should be done 2-3 times per week with about 24-48 hours of rest between workouts so the muscles can recover. Track how many repetitions you can get in 1 minute and watch your strength and endurance improve.

Cheers to your health and God bless,

Chris

Get Fit Playing Cards! Seriously!

Believe it or not, you CAN get fit playing cards even if you don't have much time! These aren't your typical card games but they are ways to make your workout a little more interesting. It should also be noted that these a once-in-awhile thing. If you do it all the time it will probably get old.

1.) Card Cardio

     This is one of my favorites. With this game you use the cards to determine which cardio exercise you will do. To play, choose four cardio exercises that you can do for 1 minute non-stop. Each exercise gets its own suit. Shuffle the deck and lay out some cards FACE DOWN. If you want a 10 minute workout, put 10 cards out. If you want 20 minutes, put 20 out.

Here's what a workout may look like:

          Clubs - Jumping Jacks

          Spades - Mountain Climbers

          Hearts - High Knees

          Diamonds - Shadow Boxing

          Joker - optional 1 minute rest

The number on the card doesn't matter for this one. The first card you flip is a 4 of clubs so you do 1 minute of jumping jacks. You flip over the next card to reveal an ace of diamonds so you shadow box your imaginary opponent - bobbing, weaving, and jabbing for the next minute. And so on.

If you are really short on time or just want a harder workout you can do Interval Card Cardio. The only difference, go as hard a fast as you can for 30 seconds then rest for 30 seconds and flip the next card. You can also choose harder exercises to really burn some calories! :) Make sure you monitor yourself with this one though! You can push pretty hard but if you get dizzy or light-headed, ease up a little and let your heart rate come back down.

2.) Card Resistance Training

Same as the Card Cardio, only you select a resistance exercise for each suit and you will perform repetitions instead of doing a minute straight of each exercise. Here's an example:

          Clubs - Squats

          Spades - Push Ups

          Hearts - Band Pulls 

          Diamonds - Lying Leg Raises

It probably wouldn't be too wise to perform each for 1 minute. It would be pretty tough if you flipped 2 or 3 spades in a row. That would mean 2 or 3 minutes of push ups! Instead, perform repetitions to match the number on the card. Say you flip a 5 of clubs you perform 5 repetitions of squats, then an 8 of hearts means you perform 8 reps of band pulls next. Ace and face cards are 10 reps. 

3.) FitDeck

As I was coming up with ideas for this article I came across Fit Deck. They are special decks of cards with exercises and explanations on each. They even have different decks for different interests. Basketball Fit Deck, Soccer Fit Deck, Yoga Fit Deck, even a nutrition Fit Deck!

Shuffle up and have some fun!