Of all of the waste of time exercises that people do in the gym, calf raises and all of its iterations, are probably the worst of all of these exercises. And of all the machine-based exercises, no other machines are as much of a waste of space, iron and cable as the various calf raise machines.

Stop doing calf raises.

Just don’t do them.

In the abstract, in isolation, the calf muscle may be getting stronger. But this strength gain is meaningless because it there is little, if any, transfer to improving movement or actual function. The goal should be to train movements, not muscles. The calf doesn’t work in isolation to produce any movement that we make, so there is no reason to perform an exercise that isolates the calf muscle, insulates it from the other muscles that it works with to produce functional movement. There is no reason to train any muscle in isolation.

The calf raise is the biceps curl for the legs. There’s an old saying they use in golf that says, “Drive for show, putt for dough.” When it comes to leg training we can adapt it to, “Calf raises for show, squat and lunge for dough.”

Walk into any gym, anywhere and you will see plenty of people doing all kinds of leg raises, but you rarely see the squat and lunge being performed, let alone performed correctly. And for goodness sake, do not superset calf raises with other purposeful exercises like plyometric jumps or squats and lunges.

The calf raise is an less-than-ordinary exercise that should be consigned to the scrap heap of exercises, exercises from a by-gone era when we just didn’t know any better.

After reviewing over 1,600 papers, researchers from the Mayo Clinic state that, “You can make a very compelling argument for exercise as a disease-modifying strategy to prevent dementia and mild cognitive impairment, and for favorably modifying these processes once they have developed.” Author and neurologist Dr. J. Eric Ahlskog lead the effort that included the review of all scientific papers on the subject of exercise and cognition, including observational studies and studies done with animals.

This exercise includes traditional gym-based cardiovascular exercises, as well as other activities like walking and performing household chores, including yard work and shoveling snow. Through the use of brain scans the researchers have found that exercise preserves the integrity of the human brain and note that animal studies show that exercise improves the function of the brain and increases the connection between brain cells.

The review also found that there is a significant reduction of risk of dementia in people who being exercise during midlife and a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Aerobic exercise improved the cognitive function of healthy adults, and with seniors aerobics was linked to a smaller loss of age related gray matter.

The researchers concluded, “Exercise should not be overlooked as an important therapeutic strategy. Whether addressing our patients in primary care or neurology clinics, we should continue to encourage exercise for not only general health, but also cognitive health.”

All-in-all, this is yet another instance that proves exercise is the best disease-modifying strategy known to medical science. Better than diet, pharmaceuticals or any other intervention. Everybody should exercise.

Whenever on vacation I make it a habit to visit a local gym and over the past 30+ years I have worked out in gyms in Jamaica, Italy, California, Florida, Ohio, Bermuda, Vermont and countless other places. Besides restaurants, there are no better places to really get the local flavor and mix with the natives than the local gym. However, while restaurants are easy to find, depending on where you visit you may have to look harder – in some cases much harder – to find a gym.

This month our family went to Italy and we stayed in a town in Umbria called Trevi, which is why I haven’t posted anything new over the past 2 weeks. Like the good little tourists we are we had planned things out months ahead of time; rented a van, arranged for dinner, bought tickets to see Michaelangelo’s David, and checked the Internet for a gym. I really was surprised that it was easy to find a gym – The Coliseum Gym in Trevi (PG).

Finding The Coliseum’s web site was a lot easier than finding it on Google maps, and finding the actual gym once we were in Trevi was one of the more difficult encounters we had the entire time we were in the country. As I said Google maps – and the GPS system we had – was of no use; it put us some 25 kilometers away. One day my wife and I took a stab at trying to find it based on the Google directions. I call it getting “purposefully lost.” We didn’t get lost and we didn’t find the gym, either.

So one day after navigating a trip that got us to Florence, I set out to find The Coliseum Gym in Trevi, once and for all. I visited the Bar Chalet, the local cafe located in the heart of Trevi, and asked if anyone know where the gym was. Thanks to Alessandro, a real barista who works at Bar Chalet, I found a local who was able to give me directions to la palestra (that’s Italian for gym); it was literally 5 minutes a way, right under our noses!

The Coliseum in Trevi is a fantastic, full service gym that would be great in any town, in any country. The facility is spotless and is manned by the owner Marco and his wife. The gym is loaded with all of the equipment anyone needs to get a great workout and they have a juice bar that serves protein shakes, as well as delicious espresso. And of course, Marco offers up the best in Italian hospitality.

Among the services they offers is “Pandemonium,” an Italian take on Cross-Fit. They also have a dedicated spin class studio and a full-slate of aerobics classes.

If you ever visit Umbria – particularly the Trevi area – and are looking to exercise, you should visit The Coliseum gym in Trevi.

I spend a lot of time in open gyms and see a lot of ridiculous things, things I feel compelled to speak out about, and against. There is so much misinformation, and plain bad information circulating in the mainstream, and in the gym, about fitness and nutrition there is no shortage of subject matter.

Recently I have seen so many guys doing shrugs – and a lot of shrugs, like a whole workout of shrugs – it struck me that this is a colossal waste of time and effort. If you feel compelled to do shrugs at the most they should be treated as a fine tuning exercise, and I even hesitate to qualify them in this manner, and only a few sets are needed. More than three sets is folly. This is a great example of how a decent exercise can be ruined by improper use.

Inevitably people do shrugs to develop their “traps.” And let’s be honest, in the vast majority of cases “people” are guys. The reality is that while the traps are involved the levator scapulae and rhomboids play a major role in the shrugging movement. The rationale for doing shrugs is aesthetic, not functional. In reality, shrugs are an inefficient way to develop the trapezoid muscle.

Guys compound their mistake of over-emphasizing shrugs by using wrist straps and/or using a machine to perform the movement. This “shrug syndrome” illustrates how little the average person – and unfortunately, many trainers – know about anatomy and function.

Perform explosive, compound movements such as power shrugs, high pulls and hang cleans – without using wrist straps – to maximize your training, while developing all the aforementioned muscles, and other muscles as well. Linking the shoulder and the hip in training, not isolating body parts/muscles, allows you to get the most out of your training. Performing proper dead lifts, without straps, will also do more to develop the muscles discussed more efficiently than shrugs.

A quick note about straps; lose them. Wrist straps hurt physical development and strength, they do not help. Develop the strength in your hands, wrists and forearms and your overall fitness level will improve. Using straps disrupts the kinetic chain and detracts from the benefits of performing compound movements. Plus it looks silly when a guy has big, bulky traps, rounded shoulders and skinny little shaved wrists and forearms.

You might think I’m crazy, my neighbors probably think I’m crazy and if you listen to me your neighbors might think you’re crazy.  And you might be crazy if you listen to me, but you will be in better shape.  Try sledgehammer training.

In the effort to get fit you don’t have to rely on traditional methods of training or standard types of fitness equipment.  Dumbbells and barbells are great, as are kettlebells, but there are other non-traditional implements that can be used to improve your overall physical fitness level.

Which brings us to the sledgehammer, as in a large, heavy hammer wielded with both hands.  There’s not much technique involved, but there is the need to exercise caution, so don’t go and swing away at something for 20 minutes the first time you try this kind of training.  You need to acclimatize your body to the overall demands that sledgehammer training will put on your body.

I wish I could say I thought of this program all by my lonesome, but alas it is not true.  For this I give credit to a Mr. Reinhard Engels who has come up with a simplistic yet brilliant approach to the indoor use of the sledgehammer.  He has worked out a simple yet effective total body routine that can be performed indoors in a small area in about 15 minutes, with a 10-pound sledgehammer.

Completing Reinhard’s “Shovelglove” routine is the prerequisite for embarking on a full-fledged, out-doors, bash-the-heck-out-of-a-tree-stump training program.

And here’s a quick note on the concept of “hardcore” as it applies to working out.  Hardcore is a state of mind, in that a person is willing to deviate from convention and use all the tools and knowledge available in order to come up with an interesting, fun and effective way to train.

Hardcore isn’t going to a gym and struggling and straining and making loud noises in order to do curls or leg extensions or the bench press.  Being big or wearing old, ripped, tattered workout clothes don’t make someone hardcore.  If you’re hardcore, you don’t train with belts, wrist wraps or spend most of your time on machines.

Don’t be intimidated by the concept of hardcore, embrace it.

Once you’ve spent a month or two with the “Shovelglove” you can venture outside and seek out an old tree stump, log or railroad tie or score an old tire from a local auto repair shop.

All you need is a 10-pound sledge, safety goggles (to prevent anything you hit from shooting into your eyes) and the willingness to work hard.  This kind of training is great for every part of your body from your fingers to your toes, and especially works on your core.  Core training is all the rage these days and nothing will work your core like 20 minutes swinging a sledgehammer.

The first time you head outside, after you warm up with some “Shovelglove” moves, spend only 10 minutes actually hitting something   You will be generating quite a bit of force so you don’t want to overdo and suffer an injury.  Working on terrain, and not on a level gym floor, will force your body to move in ways that you probably aren’t used to, which is another reason that you don’t want to do too much right off the bat.

Do yourself a favor and take your time, as the best approach is to “sledge” for about 10 minutes at a time three times per week.  From here, you can add time to your sessions until you can go for about 25 minutes at the most.

You will be amazed at how sledgehammer training will improve your physical fitness.  Buy a sledgehammer now.

The hang clean is an incredibly effective exercise that will strengthen everything from your fingers to your toes, and clients of all ages and ability levels will benefit from learning and performing this movement.  Whether or not you work with a personal trainer you should be able to perform hang cleans.

These guidelines are provided by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and can be found in numerous NSCA publications. The organization provides free instructional videos on their web site.  The hang clean is an advanced lift and is extremely challenging.  Whether you are a fitness professional or a fitness consumer, an attention to detail is paramount when learning/performing the hang clean.

If you are learning the hang clean on your own, start with a very light weight – a bar without any added poundage – and do no more than 3 or 4 sets of 5 or 6 repetitions.

This is the procedure for the hang clean (From the NSCA’s Fly Solo Program “Flight Manual”).

From a standing position make sure your knees, hips and shoulders are aligned with the bar and at arms’ length, touching the top part of the thigh. Lower the bar under control to the top of the knees by flexing at the hips.  Do not bend the knees to lower the bar and get your chest over your toes.  For the sake of our discussion, this is the bottom position.

From the bottom position, extend your hips explosively and simultaneously extend up on the balls of your feet. You also must aggressively shrug your shoulders and jump with chest up and shoulders back.  Make sure you keep the bar close to your body. As the bar reaches the top of the pull that results from your explosive movement of your hips, pull your body down and under the bar and lead with your elbows pointed up and out.

Rotate elbows down and then up ahead of the bar so they are pointed in front, not towards the ground.  Lift your feet and move into a squatting stance and as you catch the bar on the front portion of the shoulders.  You have to re-bend the knees to a quarter squat depth and keep your weight on your heels with elbows high.

While “catching” the bar, flex your knees and hips, which will absorbs the weight and impact of the bar while your feet re-contact the floor in a slightly wider stance than the starting position.  Make sure you don’t jump your feet out too wide, not wider than 36-inches. Once you gain control and balance, stand up to a fully erect position.  In this “finish position” your head is facing forward; neck is neutral or slightly hyper extended; wrists are hyper extended; elbows fully flexed; upper arms parallel to the floor; back flat or slightly arched; knees and hips slightly flexed to absorb the impact of the weight; feet flat on the floor; body’s weight over the middle of the feet.

The hang clean is a great exercise that will help people of all ages and ability levels learn to execute triple extension – extension of the ankles, knees and hips – to generate maximum force and build total body strength.  Take your time when learning and performing this exercise and you will improve your fitness level.

Creatine is one of the most popular ergogenic aids on the market because of its putative muscle building properties.  And while there are those who don’t think it works, there is enough, legitimate scientific data to indicate that creatine supplementation is warranted for people who engage in weight training.

I’m not a big fan of any kind of supplement and aside from taking fish oil capsules – that’s a story for another time – I don’t use any kind of supplements.  One of the reasons I don’t use supplements is that there isn’t a whole heck of a lot of legit science out there to justify using the vast majority of these products.

However, creatine monohydrate is a supplement that has been the subject of many studies and the data indicates that creatine monohydrate can increase muscular strength and muscle growth.  Now there have also been studies that have shown it is not an effective supplement, but these studies have been outnumbered by the studies that show creatine works.  As a result of these studies there is a belief – for some unknown reason – that creatine just doesn’t work for some people.

One of the reasons that I have given creatine a “buy” recommendation is that for a time I used creatine and experienced firsthand the advertised benefits from taking this supplement.  As a result of following the prescribed loading and maintenance program I added muscle and got stronger.  I gained about 6-8 pounds during the initial loading phase.

During the time that I was following the creatine regimen I was even more diligent than usual with regard to my diet and weightlifting program, and I was also able to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.  Those in the anti-creatine camp point to this kind of attention to detail and say, “It’s not the creatine that was responsible for your gains, it’s the program.”  And I think that to some extent this school of thought is correct.

However, since I have always been very disciplined when it comes to following my program I feel that the gains that I experienced during the first 3 months of this regimen were due to the creatine.

Anecdotally speaking, I found creatine to be quite effective and can recommend its use under certain conditions.  If you are going to use creatine supplements, you must be careful to remember to take both the regular loading doses and the daily maintenance doses as well.  You have to follow your workout and nutritional routine to the letter and you must get sufficient rest.

You must make sure you are doing everything correctly in order to give the creatine the chance to do its stuff.  And you’ll know if creatine supplementation is working as some studies I have seen point to a 6-8 pound weight gain that comes during the loading phase as a sign that the creatine is working.

By now some of you might be wondering why I haven’t stayed on my regimen of creatine supplements.  I had a couple of reasons.  First of all, to get the most out of creatine you have to remember to take it every day.  For whatever reason, I’m very forgetful when it comes to taking anything regularly – medicines, supplements, vitamins – so I found myself going several days without taking my daily maintenance dose.

Secondly, I didn’t want to carry around the extra 10-12 pounds that I gained during my regimen – I didn’t like weighing 218 – even though with these pounds came some serious strength gains.  I was in my late 30s at the time and had been there, lifted that, so I guess I could say the results really didn’t matter to me.

Does creatine work?  It did for me.  How could I give people an opinion if I hadn’t tried it myself?

UPDATE: Since late 2008 I have been following a creatine regimen. By fine-tuning my training and loading/maintenance schedule I feel the benefits from supplementation without the weight gain I experienced in the past.  If anything, I’m leaner than ever at a body weight of 205-pounds.

Whether you workout at home or at a commercial gym you should be spending the vast majority of your time weight training with dumbbells.

Flat out, dumbbells are the most versatile pieces of exercise equipment that you will find in any gym.  If you train with dumbbells you can adapt any exercise in at least three different ways, and all of these variations are superior for developing strength and improving fitness than are their barbell equivalents.

Let’s take an old favorite of mine, the military press.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with what a military press is, here’s a quick explanation.  Basically, “militaries” are performed by standing with your feet shoulder width apart while holding the weight at shoulder level before pressing the weight straight overhead so that the arms are locked, and then lowering the weights back to the shoulder.  During the pressing movement, the posture is upright and the legs do not contribute at all to the lift.

If you use a barbell to perform the military press – obviously- both arms work at the same time to produce the upward and downward phase of the press.  Thus we have only one barbell version of the military press.

Doing the military press with dumbbells gives us at least 5 different ways to do the military press; both arms pressing at the same time, alternating arms pressing, holding dumbbells in each hand but performing 10 repetitions with one side before switching to the other side, holding one dumbbell at a time and performing 10 reps with one side before switching to the other side, and “curl and presses” where you start with the dumbbells at your side and perform a biceps curl them to get them to shoulder level before pressing them overhead.  And there are more, but by now you should get the idea.

Dumbbells give you the chance to develop unilateral strength – one side at a time – because both of your hands aren’t fixed to a barbell.  In the above example, even if you are pressing two dumbbells at the same time you are developing unilateral strength because each side is working by itself to produce movement.  Weight lifting exclusively with barbells – bilaterally – can lead to muscular and strength imbalances that you might not notice until you try to use dumbbells.

I’ve had people tell me that one side was stronger than the other because it was their dominant side, when in reality this imbalance was due to always training with a barbell.

Actually, in my exercise tips section of the site I will regularly provide info on a variety of dumbbell variations that you can include in your workouts.  But I will tell you now that you can do every exercise with dumbbells that you can do with barbells; squats, dead lifts, bench press, rows and even explosive, Olympic style lifts as well.

If you are looking for equipment for your home you might think dumbbells pose a bit of a problem from a space standpoint because you will need to purchase 10 or 12 sets of dumbbells.  Well, you’d be wrong on that count, as there are now adjustable dumbbells that pack 15 pairs of dumbbells into one pair.

So rather than clutter your workout area with a rack and 30 dumbbells – or even a home gym system or barbell set – you can now purchase one set of adjustable dumbbells that range in weight from 5 pounds to 52.5 pounds, and cost less than traditional dumbbell/barbell set ups as well.

Dumbbell training is the most efficient and effective mode of training that you can do in any setting.  No matter what your fitness goals are, dumbbells will help you achieve these goals better than any other piece of equipment.

Russian Kettlebells seem like they are only for the hardcore, but they are fantastic training tools that can help to reshape your physique and rev up your metabolism. Even if you are just a beginner.

A kettlebell is a cast iron weights that looks like a cannon ball with a handle.  Known as a “girya,” kettlebells have been a traditional Russian tool for extreme all-around fitness since the beginning of the 1700’s.

In this century, Russian Master of Sport Pavel Tsatsouline has been the number one proponent of bringing this old school method of training back to the masses.  Another great read is Pavel’s “purposely primitive” approach to strength training as detailed in his book “Power to the People: Russian Strength Secrets for Every American.”

Back to the kettlebells.  The giryas come in all sizes big and small, starting with a 4kg (9 lb/.25 poods) cutie and going all the way up to a 40kg (88 lb/2.5 poods) behemoth.   The benefits of kettlebell training are many.  Used properly, kettlebell exercises will push you to higher levels of all-around fitness and make you more capable; ramp up your metabolism without the bother of the time-wasting pursuits of diet and aerobics; increase endurance; and develop a killer combination of strength-with-flexibility.

All this, plus train your body in a functional manner with the most portable and versatile equipment available.

The giryas offer a great change of pace and break up the monotony of a regular training regime featuring traditional equipment.   The backbone of training with kettlebells is the two handed swing, but you can also perform hang cleans and snatches.  You can squat with them, military press them, throw them and anything else that you can think of.  There’s no limit to what you can do with a girya.

However, you must have an open mind and a commitment to hard work to get the most out of this style of training. And if you are a golfer, I guarantee that if used properly, training with a kettlebell will add more distance to your drives than any other method of training.

Everyone should buy Pavel’s instructional DVD “The Russian Kettlebell Challenge and/or “From Russia With Tough Love: The Women’s Guide To Kettlebell Training.” Women who are beginners should start with a pair of 4kg/8 lbs kettlebells, women who are currently training with weights and men who are beginners a pair of 6kg/13 lbs kettlebells and men who are currently training with weights a pair of 12kg/26 lbs kettlebells.   You can add to your collection as you improve your technique, strength and conditioning. Kettlebells are one of the best fitness investments that you can make.

You won’t believe me when I tell you that Converse All Stars are the best shoes for your workouts, but I’m going to tell you anyway.

These days – actually for about the last 20 years – high tech sneakers have been all the rage.  The real message of the “Just Do It” era has been to “Do It” wearing expensive sneakers.  From Air Jordan to Mars Blackmon, and right on up to the present day, expensive, high tech sneaks are advertised as the main piece of equipment for anyone and everyone who exercises.

Well I’m here to throw some cold water on that notion.  I’ve always thought that spending $100 – or even $80 – for a pair of tennis shoes is silly, even though I’ve done it on occasion. But now that I know better, never again. I’ve got my Chuck Taylor Converse All Stars.  Currently they go for about 40 bucks a pop, and nothing beats them for workouts in the gym.

Here’s the short list of reasons to wear “Chucks.”

• They are supremely comfortable because they fit to your feet and don’t force your feet to fit into the pre-molded shoe.  The canvas construction responds to your feet and allows your feet and ankle’s natural support systems to work properly, while strengthening them.
• They last forever and can be washed without losing their stuff, unlike expensive kicks.
• “Cons” have a flat, rubber sole that gives you every bit the traction of the $100 sneaks, while allowing you to have better balance as well.
• Since the “Chuck’s” soles are just padded rubber, you can apply more force to the ground.  This one needs a little more explanation, so bear with me back out at the regular margin.

The expensive, high tech shoes all advertise their shock absorbing properties, which is great for distance runners but not for those of us who lift weights.  When you’re performing an exercise in a standing position – which is where you should be for 99% or all of your workouts – you want to be able to exert as much force as is possible on the ground in order to be able to “move” the weight that you are lifting.

The fancy, shock-absorbing shoe absorbs shock in both directions that can adversely affect your lifting performance.  The shoe absorbs some of you hard work- the force you’re producing – and as a result you shoes are actually working against you.

Now if you’re a trail or distance runner by all means spend as much money as you’d like on sneakers, but for weight lifting, cardio machines and even agility and footwork training Converse All Stars are all that you need.

Trust me, they are the only shoes that I use.