HGB Newsletter #01 January 2009

This newsletter will be sent to you on a monthly basis. Every newsletter will have new workouts, tips and information as well as links to whats new on the website.

Happy New Year!

Time for New Year resolutions? The most popular New Year resolutions are to lose weight, get fit, and eat right. If these are your resolutions, you are reading the right newsletter!

Losing weight, in theory is relatively easy. Eat less and exercise more. The first thing you need to do is document everything you put into your mouth. The best way to do this is use a FREE website (see weight lifting tips below). Once you really see how much you eat, you can make adjustments.

The next step is to exercise more. Each pound of muscle will burn off approximately 15 calories per day. Muscle is active, fat isn't. Fat is just along for the ride, so get rid of it! I provided a relatively advanced workout (see January’s workout). Do this routine along with daily walking and watch the pounds fall off.

What's new on the site?

The newest feature I’ve added to this website is the ability for you, the reader, to leave comments at the end of select articles on the site. You can find links to the articles here.

Adding the commenting feature will allow everyone to share their knowledge on a wide range of topics. We can all learn from one another and form a home gym community. If participation is really good, I’ll add a forum.

January’s workout:

January’s workout:

Full Body, fat loss, three days per week.

All reps are: four seconds up, pause, four seconds down, pause.

No rest (or less than 20-30 seconds) between exercises. NOTE: You need to set your weights up before the workout starts.

One set of 8 to 12 reps on each exercise. When you can do 12, add 2-5% more weight next time.

Since we all have home gyms equipped with different machines, I provided an alternative exercise for each exercise.

Workout A

Warm up with a medicine ball

Leg curl or dumbbell (DB) lunges (hamstrings)

Leg extensions or one leg bodyweight squat (quadriceps, hamstrings)

Leg press machine or barbell squat (quadriceps, hamstrings)

DB straight arm pullover (lats)

Barbell bench press or DB bench press (chest)

Barbell row or DB one arm row (lats)

Standing barbell press or DB standing overhead press (shoulders)

Barbell or DB curl (biceps)

Two arm DB behind the head extension (triceps)

Standing barbell or DB one leg calf raises (calves)

Depending on what equipment you have, this workout should take no longer than 35-45 minutes.

Workout B (all reps still 4 seconds up/down)

3 minutes easy walking on a treadmill (warm-up)

10-20 reps on the Ab Coaster or floor crunches or hanging leg raises

10-20 reps using the perfect pushup or regular push ups

Leg press machine or barbell or dumbbell squat (quadriceps, hamstrings)

10-20 reps barbell or DB wrist curls

Negative pull-ups: palms towards you, jump up until your chin is over the bar, lower yourself down taking 10 seconds. Do as many as you can.

This completes one circuit. Do at least four to six circuits.

After the first 3 minutes on the treadmill, increase the speed and the incline of the treadmill. To increase the difficulty, hold heavy DB’s while walking on the treadmill.

Do workout A then B, then A again, on either a Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday schedule.

Walking

Every day walk at least 10,000 steps. Walking is really low impact, so it's easy on the kness and shins. I get shin splints every time I run.

Does 10,000 steps sound like a lot? Uh, yes it is. My first attempt I managed 6000. The next day I did 9000.....boy I was tired! There's no duobt in my mind I'll lose weight on the 10K a day step plan.

Buy an inexpensive pedometer to track your progress. I received the Omron pedomteter for Christmas and it works great.

Here are some ways to increase your daily steps:

  • Park further away in the store parking lot
  • Avoid elevators, take the stairs
  • Walk, don't drive for trips of less than a mile
  • Avoid drive-throughs, get out of your car and walk inside. Once inside, get a chicken salad!
  • Walk around the mall
  • Walk around the field at your kids games
  • Walk the family pet
  • Walk around your living room during tv commercials

Drink one gallon of ice water a day. Why ice water? Ice water is around 40 degrees Fahrenheit and your system has to heat it to 98.6 degrees. This process requires almost one calorie to warm one ounce of ice water, so an 8 ounce glass burns eight calories. Drink 16 glasses (128 ounces) and burn 128 calories. Talk about a negative calorie food!

Brush your teeth after every meal with a really minty toothpaste. You won't snack between meals if your mouth feels clean and minty. Besides, everything you eat will taste like toothpaste.

Keep calories around 1300(women) and 1500(men) a day following these nutritional guidelines.

This is my 2009 weight loss, ab finding routine. I’ll post photos here, probably in April.

Weight lifting tips

Document your workouts

I hope you are using the free workout log you received when you signed up for this newsletter. Documenting your workouts is essential in your quest for muscle. A workout log is an excellent way to help you stay on track with your fitness goals and a practical way to see what works and what doesn't.

Fitday

Do you know exactly how much you eat every day? You have to know how much you are eating every day before you can begin to change your eating habits.

Using the Fitday website was an eye opener for me. All you have to do is enter what you eat into fitday and it will show you how many calories, protein, fat and carbs you are eating every day.

I know entering everything you eat into a website is a giant pain in the A$$, but just do it for two weeks and see really how much you consume on a daily basis. Best of all, the site is free.

Until next month….Keep Liftin’

Barry C.

If you liked this newsletter, please consider forwarding this page to a friend.

Comments


Back to Top