Last week I posted part 1 of a workout using my home-made weighted PVC pipe exercise equipment.  In this week’s video I do squat thrust variations with a 40-pound, 3-inch wide PVC pipe weighted with water and stone.

It’s really quite easy and inexpensive to make the PVC pipe exercise equipment. The unstable weight of the PVC combined with the long length of the pipe makes this home-made equipment quite challenging to perform any kind of exercise imaginable.

When the weather gets nice I try to do as many of my workouts outdoors as possible.  Check out this video where I incorporate PVC pipes, weighted with water and stone, into my calisthenics warm-up.

These exercises can be used as a warm-up or as an entire workout and provide a unique training stimulus beneficial to people of all fitness levels.  People have been using weighted PVC pipes as training implements for a while and I wanted to find out for myself what it felt like to use them.

In this video you will see two basic PVC pipes but check back regularly as I will provide more clips that utilize different sized pipes.

It’s really very easy and inexpensive to make this home-made exercise equipment.  All you need is PVC pipes of various sizes and the appropriate caps, primer, PVC pipe adhesive and a hack saw – just as if you were doing some plumbing work.  A scale will help, as you can load the pipes with the exact amount of weight that you want.

Cap and seal one end of the pipe and then load it with stone and water to the appropriate level.  If you can, place the pipe on a scale as you fill it with water and you don’t want to fill the pipe all the way, as this prevents the water from sloshing around.  Depending on the circumference of the pipe you should fill from half-way to three-quarters with water before adding the stone.

Drop me an email if you have any questions about how to put these babies together as I am glad to spread the word about the benefits of homemade exercise equipment.

Mixed distance shuttle runs are a great way to improve your conditioning level.  If done properly, they can be much more efficient and effective than other kinds of cardiovascular training, and certainly are better than distance running, jogging or any kind of machine-based cardio.

Mixed distance shuttle runs should be an integral part of any team sport athlete’s training regimen, but the rest of us can benefit from utilizing this method of training, as well.  Rather than repeatedly running fixed distance shuttles, for instance a 60-yard shuttle utilizing a 15-yard course completed 4 times, a mixed distance shuttle workout consists of shuttles of different distances in the same workout.

A few weeks ago I posted an item about a 120-yard run.  Mixed distance shuttles are a great compliment to the 120-yard run workout.

Don’t try this workout if you haven’t been sprinting, running shuttles or doing agility drills, as it is a challenging high-intensity workout.  You have to be able to run at full effort for the duration of the shuttle, not just stroll or trot.  If you don’t run the shuttle at full – okay I’ll cut you a break – or near full effort, you won’t be getting the most out of the workout.  Now, I am prone to a bit of exaggeration and over-emphasize certain elements to get my point across, but it really is for your own good. I will admit that you can get a lot out of this workout if you start working at a substantially-less-than-full effort, but I admit to this only if you promise to progress and push yourself as you the workout gets easier.

Okay, so here’s your basic mixed distance shuttle run workout, 12 shuttles and a 1000-yard total distance.  Remember it’s a shuttle run, so you run the distance up and back to complete one shuttle. I’ve put the total yards run per shuttle in parenthesis for you.

• Run 10 (20y), 20 (40y), 30 (60y), 40 (80y) yards, for a total of 200 yards.
• Run 10 (20y), 15 (30y), 25 (50y), 40 (80y), 60 (120y) for a total of 300 yards.
• Run 70 (140y), 80 (160y) 100 (200y) for a total of 500 yards.

Just as important as working hard, it’s vital that you have proper rest periods in between shuttles.  In the business we call it the “work-to-rest ratio,” and we determine the appropriate rest in response to a given effort.  More precisely, for every second of work¸ there is an appropriate amount of rest.  For beginners trying the mixed distance shuttle run workout for the first time, the work to rest ratio should be as high as 1:8.

For the sports teams and competitive athletes that I work with the ratio can be as low as 1:3.  For regular folks like you and me, completing this workout with a 1:5 work-to-rest is great, providing the work is done at full to near-full effort.  Jogging 20-yards and back in 12 seconds and resting for a minute before continuing doesn’t cut it.

This workout can serve as the starting point for you and you can make up your own shuttle combinations.  Mix the distances up in any way you wish and even use a mixed work-to-rest ratio, as well.  For the shorter shuttle you can use a lower work-to-rest and use a higher ratio for the longer shuttles.  There is no limit to the ways you can used mixed distance shuttle runs to improve your fitness and capability level.

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 weather is getting nicer, so get off the treadmill, Stair Master, stationary bike and elliptical trainer and get outside where you can actually move the human body the way it’s meant to move.  If your goal is to get in great shape so that you can give yourself the chance to look your best, give this sprinting/running routine a try.

Sprinting and agility drills can help you get into better, functional shape than performing any other kind of running drills. However, if you’ve spent a winter working out on cardiovascular equipment or have never really sprinted properly before, you can’t just go out on the first nice spring day and go 100%; you won’t get much out of the workout and could hurt yourself, to boot.

Follow this simple, but effective program and you will be taking a positive step towards turning yourself into a lean, mean, sprinting machine.  From a preparation standpoint, jog a lap, do some stretching and perform 4 or 5 30-yard stride outs.  Stride outs are a running drill where you utilize a slightly exaggerated running stride – it’s a sub-maximal speed sprint where you put a little extra bounce in your step.

I call this workout, “The 120-Yard Run.”  It’s about as simple as you can get.  Run 120-yards in 20-seconds and rest for 60-seconds and repeat pattern 5 times the first week, 7 times the second week and 8 times the third week.  This is a variation of a routine that I use to condition the teams I work with and is a very effective way to improve your fitness level.

When mixed with a shuttle-run and shorter distance sprint workout, “The 120-Yard Run” will get you in top shape quicker than any other kind of running routine.  And you will be functionally fit, as well.

“The 120-Yard Run” is just a part of an overall, sprint/shuttle run/agility program that will do much more to improve your conditioning in a fraction of the time it takes to complete a traditional, low-intensity/high-volume aerobic workout.   Sprinting also puts much less stress on your joints and connective tissue because you are literally taking a fraction of the strides in a sprint workout that are required to complete a jogging/distance running workout.  Running produces impact forces on your body equal to three times your body weight, and a jogger will take upwards of 120 strides per minute.  If you do the math – body weight x strides taken/per minute x total minutes – you will find jogging puts an astronomical amount of potentially damaging stress on the body.

Over the next few weeks, as we enter spring and – hopefully – great weather, I will post details about the other elements in this program so you can get a head start on getting into great shape as we head into the summer.

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.

The vast majority of fitness articles and workout tips that you’ll come across – about 99.99% of them – deal with the exercise side of the fitness equation.  But the rest and recovery component can have every bit as much of an impact on your fitness level as can the exercise component….

Rest.  To many exercise fanatics “rest” is a four-letter word.  Well it is a four-letter word, but you know what I mean…a lot of people look at rest as being a bad, four-letter word.  In reality, nothing is further from the truth, as getting the proper amount of rest should be an integral component and concern of every training program.

There are all kinds of rest; rest between sets, rest between exercises and rest between workouts are all important variables.  But for the sake of this item, what I’m going to talk about fits into the rest between workouts category.

How many of you take a week off when you’re feeling great?  You know, do nothing. No trips to the gym, no laps in the pool, no running or “stair climbing” or “ellipticaling?”  No programmed workout.  No competitive tennis or other racquet sports or rigorous mountain biking?  Nada.

You might be surprised to hear a fitness type like myself advising people to take a week off.  And yet, that is exactly what I’m doing.  I’m telling – demanding! – that all of you take a week off from training when you are feeling 100% fantastic, primo, very good.  It will be one of the toughest things you’ve ever done, but it will also be one of the most beneficial things that you can ever do as well.

I give my clients this advice and get these same old excuses, “But I take a week off when I have a cold,” or “I took a week off when I hurt my elbow,” or “I didn’t lift last week, my allergies were bad,” or “I didn’t workout last week I just ran and went swimming,” or “I didn’t workout the week I competed in the mini-triathlon.”  Someone really used that last one on me.

Taking time off when you’re sick or hurt is not taking time off; it’s recovering from an injury or illness.  This isn’t the same thing as taking time off when you are healthy and your body’s rest mechanism is working on all cylinders.  Getting rest when you are 100% is key to getting into and staying in great shape, and can help you avoid all kinds of nagging injuries.

I take my week off whenever I feel that I’ve had a great stretch of workouts.  About 8 weeks ago, I really picked up the intensity of my training as I was working out with a client who recently signed with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.  He just turned 23 and I’m going to be 45.  For a relatively short period of time I can keep up with young whippersnappers, but after a while the intensity gets to these old bones and I have to take a break.

So after an intense 6-week period where I had about 12 great workouts, I went Cold Turkey for a week.  At the end of this run of great workouts I felt a little heavy legged, and actually tested my vertical jump and found I couldn’t reach my normal height.  That’s a strong indication of over training and I got the message that it was time for a rest.

Fifteen years ago, I would have kept pushing and would have invariably tweaked my shoulder or my forearm – two of my trouble spots – but now I know better.  Rest is my best friend, and it is yours as well.

For people who get the bulk of their cardiovascular exercise by distance running, an elliptical machine can provide joggers with a great way to engage in a very beneficial form of cross training…

Anyone who runs regularly – or “yogs” as Ron Burgundy would call it – needs to give their body a rest as a regular part of their routine.  The joints, connective tissues and muscles of runners take a beating as a result of the stresses associated with long distance running, especially in the area surrounding the knee.

To give you an illustration of the kind of stress that running places on the body, the impact forces on the knee while running are equal to about 3.5 times a person’s body weight, as compared to 1.5 times body weight while walking (Giddings, Beaupre, Whalen & Carter, Biomechanical Engineering Division, Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University).

Runners thinking about buying a piece of equipment should seriously consider an elliptical machine.  Elliptical machines offer serious runners the opportunity to cross-train, while allowing their aching joints to get a rest.  And even if a runner’s joints aren’t aching, cross training on an elliptical can help to prevent potential orthopedic issues from rearing their ugly head.

Spending time using an elliptical trainer can help joggers avoid burnout that sometimes occurs from spending too much time doing any one activity.  Having the option of using an elliptical can let a jogger train indoors on a lousy day and provides them with an effective alternative to running on a day where they just don’t feel like lacing up their Nikes.

Data from studies seem to indicate that with regard to oxygen consumption, heart rate and calorie expenditure ellipticals can offer every bit the workout that treadmills do, which is great news for runners who are looking for a change of pace.

So give the elliptical some consideration, your joints will thank you.

Kettlebells have been around since the 18th century, but thanks to the efforts of Pavel Tsatsouline, giryas (kettlebells) are a 21st century phenomenon.

Russian Master of Sport Pavel Tsatsouline has been the number one proponent of bringing the old school method of kettlebell training to the masses.  His DVD, The Russian Kettlebell Challenge, is a must have for anyone who is interested in training with kettlebells.  Pavel’s Russian Kettlebell Challenge is and invaluable resource as it is the first and best word in providing a comprehensive kettlebell training program, and should be a part of everyone’s fitness library.

Hype and fitness are a bad mix.  Almost every time you see hype attached to a piece of exercise equipment or program, you can be sure that the product won’t live up to expectations.  This isn’t the case with Pavel’s promises.

If you visit his web site you will see endorsements and testimonials from military men, weight lifters, wrestlers and civilians of both sexes.  You will read about how training with the kettlebell can make you stronger, more resilient, more flexible, improve your endurance and permanently reduce your body fat.

I wouldn’t blame you if you checked out the web site and thought this was all a bunch of fitness folderol.  After all, people who want to sell us fitness products have lied to all of us.

Well I’m here to tell you that you can trust Pavel Tsatsouline and that kettlebell training can deliver on all of the promises if you are willing to work hard and throw away all of your preconceived notions of what a workout program is.

Not only do I use kettlebells – I have a set that I keep at home and travel with – but my wife uses them, my Dad and brother use them, and all of my clients use them.  Men, women, young, old, athletes, klutzes, all sweat and groan and swing and press kettlebells.  Teenagers to eighty-year olds, tennis players and golfers and football players.

My clients on both ends of the spectrum – an NFL-Europe offensive lineman and a Maxim model – use them.  As a matter of fact, the football player’s mom and dad are also clients of mine and THEY use kettlebells as well.

If you’re tired of all of the hyperventilating that accompanies advertisements for most exercise equipment, Pavel’s “low tech/high concept” approach will serve as a welcome relief.  And his kettlebell training program will provide you with the best workout that a few simple pieces of fitness equipment could ever give you.

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.