Cross Training: Can You Build Muscle, Get Fit and Lose Weight all in One Workout?

If you’ve been stuck in an exercise rut, repeating the same old exercises, with barely any results, then maybe your body needs to be shocked by something new and different. Cross training is a workout that constantly changes, working all systems in the body from musculo-skeletal and cardiovascular. What’s the benefit? A body like Jose and Juanita over there, fit and strong with the explosive power of a leopard!

What is cross training?

You can read the dictionary definition of cross training, however, I like to call it the ultimate ‘Smash-em-up’ session! You know those days when you’ve got pent up stress, or you are feeling down, they are the best days to get into that gym (or lounge room) and go NUTS! Crank up the music, don’t worry what other people may think (security may be called) because when cross training you do whatever it takes to get your heart leaping out of your chest, and sometimes that means going crazy!!

Cross training is the combining of different exercises for different parts of the body that will improve strength, agility, fitness, and power. It usually involves big compound movements where multiple joints are working at once which elevates the heart rate giving the person a cardiovascular and strength workout at the same time. Explosive movements, such as jumping, build strength and fitness at the same time which is the ultimate aim.

Who should cross train?

Anyone who wants a body that is lean, muscular, well proportioned, but not overly pronounced. If you imagine on one end of the spectrum a marathon runner, and on the other a bodybuilder, a cross trainer’s body will fall right in the middle.

People requiring explosive movements for sport or work benefit greatly from cross training, and the general population who have limited time to exercise and need to kill two birds with one stone (ie lose weight and tone up).

Who should-not cross train?

• Beginners
• People looking for a lot of muscle bulk,
• people with back/neck/knee issues,
• pregnant women,
• elderly,
• if you are really inflexible be careful not to injure yourself by going beyond your range of motion

How to create your own cross training workout for your total body

Pick 6 strength training exercises, 2 x leg, 1 x back, 1 x chest, 1x shoulder and either a bicep or triceps exercise. Pick 3 plyometric exercises. Create three different circuits of three exercises as follows:

#1: 2 x leg + 1 plyometric: Repeated for 3 sets (no rest between sets)

60sec break

#2: Back, Chest + 1 plyometric: repeated for 3 sets (no rest between sets)

60sec break

#3: Shoulder and arm + 1 plyometric repeated for 3 sets (no rest between sets)

60sec break

#4 Cool-down: Abs and stretch.

Tips for the exercises you choose:

• Must be compound, ie more than one joint is moving. For example bicep curls are isolated (only your elbow moves) so you’d have to add something in such as squats while you curl.
• Body-weight exercises are best, such as push-ups, chin-ups, reverse pull-ups, dips, swiss ball work.
• Use a heart rate monitor and set a lower limit so it beeps if your heart drops below 65% maximum.
• If your heart rate drops too low, jog on spot, skip or do whatever you can to lift it up, then continue.
• Strength exercises may be performed a bit faster than a normal weights session to keep heart rate up.

Example workout

Click here for a larger, printable version of the below workout.

Signs of a good workout

• The pool of sweat on the floor
• Your heart rate stayed above 65% the whole time
• You have shaky muscles which are sore the next day
• You can’t decide if your lungs or limbs are more exhausted

Watch this You Tube Clip for some plyometric ideas (I think these guys are wannabe break dancers!)

Your 5 day weekly plan

Depending on your body type, structure your weekly workouts as follows:

• For emphasis on weight loss;

Day 1: Run

Day2: Cross train

Day 3: Run

Day 4: Cross train

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: Yoga/pilates/stretch

Day 7: Rest

• For emphasis on Muscle growth

Day 1: Cross train

Day 2: Legs (weights)

Day 3: Cross Train

Day 4: Upper (weights)

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: Yoga/pilates/stretch

Day 7: Rest

What to do next…

Print up the above program, make sure you understand all the exercises I have given you. If not, substitute your own exercises that you feel comfortable doing. Click on the Plyometrics link if you need more plyometric suggestions.

Dig up your heart rate monitor. If you don’t have one, just learn how to count your pulse over a 6 second period and add a zero (eg 15 beats in 6 seconds means a HR of 150bpm).

Get to the gym/park/garage/lounge room, clear the space you need, get the equipment you need before you warm up. Crank up your music and off you go! The above workout should take about 40-50mins.

Let me know how you go. Do you have any awesome cross training exercises to share with readers??? Remember, don’t make it complicated, and don’t stop moving!

6 Healthy Foods You Should Be Eating, But Probably Aren’t

Editors Note: This post is written by weight loss expert (and former couch potato) Meg McFarlane. Meg has experienced the weight loss journey first hand and has chronicled this in her blog, Spud On The Run.  She has a Bachelor of Science from Sydney University is currently working in IT.

You can read Megs full Bio on the About page or visit her blog http://spudontherun.wordpress.com

Would you like a quick fix on your diet? A few additions that will make a big impact to your energy levels? Add at least one of these in every day and watch your health levels jump up a notch or two!

1. Avocadoes

Every diet should contain healthy fats and avocadoes are one of the best sources of monounsaturated fat out there, plus they have the added benefit of helping lower your cholesterol as well.  Avocadoes are also rich in vitamin K, vitamin C and potassium. Current research has shown that the nutrients in avocados help lower blood pressure and protect you against breast and prostate cancer, so you definitely should be adding a few slices of avocado to your lunchtime salad.

2. Broccoli

Your mother always told you when you were a child to eat all your broccoli because it was good for you. Guess what, she was right.  Broccoli is one of the best foods out there. Not only is broccoli high in vitamin C , vitamin A and fibre, but it also supplies you with folic acid, iron and calcium.  Broccoli also contains a phytochemical called sulforaphane, which increases the activity of a group of enzymes in our bodies that squelch cancer-causing agents.  Therefore broccoli is a must have food that should be on your plate several times a week. Watch Gordon Ramsey prepare the most delicious broccoli soup in 3 mintues!

3. Chocolate Milk

Yes, that’s right, chocolate milk.  Instead of wasting money on expensive protein shakes, after a hard workout, have a glass of chocolate milk instead. Research from Indiana University shows that chocolate milk is as good as sports drinks for recovery after intense endurance sports. Low-fat chocolate milk has a powerful nutrient package that provides energy, protein, calcium and seven other essential nutrients including potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin and niacin. Infact Milo chocolate drink, although a little higher in fat has a very high iron content!

4. Salmon

For a low calorie, low fat food, you can’t beat salmon.  It is one of the higher fat fish, but much healthier than red meat. Salmon is high in protein and vitamin B12, but more importantly it is high in Omega 3.  Omega 3 reduces the risk of unwanted inflammation and helps maintain the integrity of our immune and circulatory systems. It also helps prevent erratic heart rhythms, make blood less likely to clot inside arteries (the cause of most heart attacks and strokes) and improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol.  All these health benefits come from just two serves of salmon a week.

5. Eggs

Don’t throw out the yolks and just eat the egg white.  Whilst the yolk does contain cholesterol, it doesn’t contain enough to do you any harm, plus if you are skipping the yolks you are missing out on a good source of iron and lecithin, which is critical for brain health.  Eggs are also one of the only foods containing naturally occurring vitamin D which provides protection from osteoporosis, hypertension, cancer, and several autoimmune diseases.

6. Berries

Whilst most people know that berries like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are a great tasting snack, not many people are aware of just how good they are for them.  Berries contain a huge dose of phyochemicals and flavonoids that can help reduce your risk of several types of cancers and are important for healthy vision.  Also they are rich in vitamin C, potassium and folate.  A cup of mixed berries with yoghurt makes a great tasting healthy dessert.

Make sure you include these and other nutritious superfoods in your diet. What’s your favorite superfood?

You can read Megs full Bio on the About page or visit her blog http://spudontherun.wordpress.com

Are Excuses Holding You Back From Getting Healthy and Losing Weight?

Editors Note: This post is written by weight loss expert (and former couch potato) Meg McFarlane. Meg has experienced the weight loss journey first hand and has chronicled this in her blog, Spud On The Run.  She has a Bachelor of Science from Sydney University is currently working in IT.

1. I  hate dieting

When you think about fad diets that only have you drinking liquid shakes or eating soup, no wonder everyone hates diets. You feel hungry all the time and just long for a decent meal.  However, diets or as I prefer to call them healthy eating plans don’t mean bland foods, going on a liquid diet or constantly being hungry.  By choosing low calorie versions of the foods you are now eating and eating more vegetables and lean proteins, you can lose weight without ever feeling hungry.

2. I don’t want to give up my favourite foods

Then don’t.  Eating healthy doesn’t mean that you can never have your favourite foods like chocolate or ice cream ever again.  However, it does mean that you have to eat less of them.  Make your favourite foods a special treat that you only have once a week.  Now this doesn’t give you license to eat a whole family sized chocolate block or a tub of ice cream once a week, but there is nothing wrong with having a bowl of ice cream or a small chocolate bar to reward yourself for sticking to a healthy eating plan.  Besides, your favourite foods taste even better when you are not eating them every single day.

3. Eating healthy is expensive

There is a common misconception that healthy eating is expensive.  If you are buying fresh organic fruit and vegetables, then yes the cost can add up, however, you can eat healthy on a budget.  Frozen vegetables and fruits can be very cheap and they are just as good, if not better, then the fresh stuff.  Frozen vegetables are frozen just after picking them and often have more nutrients then the fresh variety and there is no wasting money by having them go off in the bottom of the fridge before you have a chance to eat them.  Also you can save money by buying your meat in bulk and freezing it in meal sized portions.

4. It is too hard going on a diet when you have kids

Having kids is not an excuse as to why you can’t eat right; instead they should be the reason why you start eating a healthy diet and start exercising.  By providing healthy meals and setting an example to your kids about healthy eating, you can help prevent your kids from experiencing health problems when they get older and give them the gift of knowing the right amount of the right foods to eat for the rest of their lives.

5. Diets don’t work

Diets don’t work.  I always put the weight straight back on.  Does this familiar?  You diet, you lose weight, you go back to eating normally and you put the weight straight back on plus some.  This excuse is actually true – diets don’t work, but healthy eating plans for life do work.  Stop thinking about your new eating plan as a diet and think about it as eating for life. Therefore, you should never start a “diet” that you can not commit to for the rest of your life.  Sound too hard?  Choose a healthy eating plan that has a moderate amount of proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats and learn as much as you can about portion sizes.  By eating the right amount of the right foods, you will lose weight and get healthy.

Do you know anyone that has started a diet, lost the weight, and stuck to it for a minimum of 2 years? Do you think they see it as a ‘diet’ I bet not!

You can read Megs full Bio on the About page or visit her blog http://spudontherun.wordpress.com

Strong Abs Saved This Woman’s Life!

Recently the British Telegraph featured a story on a woman who was saved by her fitness and washboard stomach…

A British woman’s “washboard” stomach muscles have saved her from dying in a freak paragliding accident, doctors say.

Peggy Williams was on a holiday in Andalusia, southern Spain when a gust of wind caught her paraglider and lifted her off the top of a cliff, theTelegraph newspaper reports.

Thrown about like a rag doll, she plunged 5m and was dragged across a rocky outcrop on her stomach.

Ms Williams suffered a torn liver and almost severed her pancreas but was ultimately saved by her stomach muscles which acted as a “girdle” to protect her other vital organs.

“I kept seeing rocks going past me and smacking me,” Ms Williams was quoted as saying.

“I was dragged for what seemed like an eternity over the rocks, tearing my stomach in the process.

“I was only told later that it was my washboard stomach that saved my life.”

Ms Williams was airlifted to hospital and spent more than eight days in intensive care before recovering from the

accident.

The adventurous woman had been flying for more than two years and was

in the middle of a paragliding holiday with friends when the incident occurred.

Ms Williams, who has no children, said she kept to a simple exercise regime to keep fit.

“I do 15 sit-ups and 30 bicycle sit-ups, or lateral crunches, every day — it’s

just a one-minute regime,” she said.

“I also run two or three times a week, and together that keeps me fit.

“More than one doctor has said that being so fit is what saved my life.”

How Can I Improve My Diet? Start with the Quality of Your Food?

Editors Note: This post is written by contributor Gina Ryan. Gina is a licensed nutritionist and Wellness coach from Hawaii. Read her Bio on the About page or visit her blog Lunch without Ed.

What should I eat?

As a nutritionist this has to be the most common question I encounter and on the other hand the answer I am about to share with you is commonly the most ignored. Why? Because it is so easy and people believe healthy changes have to be difficult.

Let me begin by putting you the eater in the seat of authority. You are your own best expert and I trust you will not only hear what the answer to “what should I eat?” but will run it through your own filter of being. Only when you use your own mind-body as a filter do you ultimately make healthy decisions for your own body.

Step up the quality of your food

Yes that’s it in a nutshell. I use the term step up because it is not usually possible to make all the changes you may desire all at once. In stepping up the quality you will lose the need to make a perfect change and thus eliminate falling into good/bad or black/white thinking. Perfectionism will undermine even your best efforts because there is no perfect and you will never reach the goal of being perfect so just let go of perfect right now and enjoy stepping up.

Some step up quality clues

• in its natural state
• fresh
• naturally flavorful
• organic
• gourmet
• homemade
• local
• made with love (just think about it)
• grown with integrity for workers and or animals (free range,wild)
• vibrant
• add your own qualities that speak to food produced/grown with care and consciousness

It has been shown over and over that when people eat lower quality foods they will eat larger quantities of them. Now we can begin to understand what is really going on when the cultures who traditionally ate higher quality foods had lower rates of disease than those eating the lower quality processed food diets. This goes way beyond how much fat or carbohydrate is in a particular food, the quality of the fat or carbohydrate must be taken into consideration rather than totally eliminated.

If there ever were a magic bullet for the world of nutrition it might just be ‘quality’

Quality foods will naturally be more nutrient dense and contain much less of the xenotoxins from man made substances which act as anti-nutrients and have had the least negative impact on the planet. Another bonus of eating high quality foods is you avoid the food additives that not only cause allergic reactions but cause you to actually crave the same product hence eating more and more.

The choice now becomes easy, no need to eliminate any one food or group simply pick the highest quality one and by all means enjoy it.

Examples of higher quality choices

• sugars- try using maple syrup, brown rice syrup, raw honey, barley malt, agave, sucanat
• fats- try the best quality olive oil you can afford, ghee, coconut oil, flax seed or hemp seed oils, and always use real organic butter over any man tampered with oil made to look or act like butter
• dairy- make it real cheese, yogurt, milk, cream etc. organic and raw
• meat- wild, fresh, unprocessed, organic, hormone free
• grains- organic, unprocessed, whole

These ideas are just a start be on the lookout at your market and again remember not to think in a black or white manner, life really is lived in the grey places. We really can make relevant changes over time by choosing to simply step up the quality of our foods.

Lastly let me state that quality foods add to your metabolic power. Food is energy and information, so by choosing quality you add to the metabolic process rather than bogging it down. What can you do in your diet today to step it up?

You can read Gina’s full bio on the About page or visit her blog http://www.lunchwithouted.wordpress.com

Tweak of the Week: Workout Power Foods

Tweak of the Week: Workout Power Foods

Tweak of the Week: Workout Power Foods

Tweak of the Week: Workout Power Foods

Tweak of the Week: Workout Power Foods

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